Contents

Introduction. Vital Fluids

Beer in Mesopotamia and Egypt

    1. A Stone-Age Brew

    2. Civilized Beer

Wine in Greece and Rome

    3. The Delight of Wine

    4. The Imperial Vine

Spirits in the Colonial Period

    5. High Spirits, High Seas

    6. The Drinks That Built America

Coffee in the Age of Reason

    7. The Great Soberer

    8. The Coffeehouse Internet

Tea and the British Empire

    9. Empires of Tea

   10. Tea Power

Coca-Cola and the Rise of America

   11. From Soda to Cola

   12. Globalization in a Bottle

Epilogue Back to the Source

Acknowledgments

Appendix In Search of Ancient Drinks

Notes

Sources