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Uncorking the past : the quest for wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages / Patrick E. McGovern.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Berkeley : University of California Press, c2009.Description: xv, 330 p. : ill. (some col.), maps ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780520253797 (cloth : alk. paper)
  • 0520253795 (cloth : alk. paper)
  • 9780520267985 (pbk.)
  • 0520267982 (pbk.)
Other title:
  • Quest for wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages
Subject(s): Genre/Form: DDC classification:
  • 394.1/3 22
LOC classification:
  • GT2884 .M36 2009
Contents:
List of illustrations -- Preface -- 1: Homo Imbibens: I drink, therefore I am -- 2: Along the banks of the Yellow River -- 3: Near Eastern challenge -- 4: Following the Silk Road -- 5: European bogs, grogs, burials, and binges -- 6: Sailing the wine-dark Mediterranean -- 7: Sweet, the bitter, and the aromatic in the New World -- 8: Africa serves up its meads, wines, and beers -- 9: Alcoholic beverages: whence and whither? -- Select bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.
Summary: From the Publisher: In a lively tour around the world and through the millennia, Uncorking the Past tells the compelling story of humanity's ingenious, intoxicating quest for the perfect drink. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us up to date on what we now know about how humans created and enjoyed fermented beverages across cultures. Along the way, he explores a provocative hypothesis about the integral role such libations have played in human evolution. We discover, for example, that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated for their potential in making quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan, the corn beers of the Americas, and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds-even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink, it turns out-whether it be mind-altering, medicinal, a religious symbol, a social lubricant, or artistic inspiration-has not only been a profound force in history, but may be fundamental to the human condition itself.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Circulating Books Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Main Collection GT2884 .M36 2009 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available 3182700018246
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references and index.

List of illustrations -- Preface -- 1: Homo Imbibens: I drink, therefore I am -- 2: Along the banks of the Yellow River -- 3: Near Eastern challenge -- 4: Following the Silk Road -- 5: European bogs, grogs, burials, and binges -- 6: Sailing the wine-dark Mediterranean -- 7: Sweet, the bitter, and the aromatic in the New World -- 8: Africa serves up its meads, wines, and beers -- 9: Alcoholic beverages: whence and whither? -- Select bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

From the Publisher: In a lively tour around the world and through the millennia, Uncorking the Past tells the compelling story of humanity's ingenious, intoxicating quest for the perfect drink. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us up to date on what we now know about how humans created and enjoyed fermented beverages across cultures. Along the way, he explores a provocative hypothesis about the integral role such libations have played in human evolution. We discover, for example, that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated for their potential in making quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan, the corn beers of the Americas, and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds-even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink, it turns out-whether it be mind-altering, medicinal, a religious symbol, a social lubricant, or artistic inspiration-has not only been a profound force in history, but may be fundamental to the human condition itself.

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