Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages [Hardcover]

Patrick E. McGovern (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2009

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"McGovern's delving, detailed in this fascinating book, leaves little doubt that humans are born drinkers."--New Scientist

"(A) magnificent study, skillfully written and well illustrated."--Choice

"Takes his reader on a world tour, examining the archeological record for alcohol use across continents and cultures."--Nature

"Highly informative and challenging."--California Grapevine

"A remarkable book, both erudite and entertaining."--Gastronomica

From the Inside Flap

"Patrick McGovern has written his masterpiece. He takes us on an engrossing, multifaceted journey through the complex relationships between human cultures and alcoholic beverages of all kinds. In doing so, he develops a new context for human history."--Brian Fagan, author of The Great Warming and Fish on Friday

"Fascinating, wide-ranging and erudite. When it comes to ancient beverages, Patrick McGovern is the dean of the subject."--Tom Standage, author of A History of the World in 6 Glasses and An Edible History of Humanity

"In Uncorking the Past, Patrick E. McGovern charts the enchantment of human beings with alcoholic beverages from their initial discoveries of fermented honey, fruits, and grains to the perfection of elaborate means for producing, storing, transporting, and consuming treasured spirits. McGovern's gaze is truly global, spanning all the continents, but it is also microscopic, penetrating to neural pathways, genes, and molecules. This is a story told with verve and passion, yet one that is endlessly entertaining and highly informative."--Victor H. Mair, co-author (with Erling Hoh) of The True History of Tea

"An eminently accessible, sweeping, and thought-provoking history of fermented alcohol."--Max Nelson, author of The Barbarian's Beverage: A History of Beer in Ancient Europe

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (October 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520253795
• ISBN-13: 978-0520253797
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Our world is awash in ethanol", November 29, 2009

By 

Chambolle (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages (Hardcover)

So says Patrick McGovern, and this book explains how it got that way. McGovern theorizes that organisms great and small, perhaps from the unicellular to non-human primates to humans, are hard wired to crave the products of sugar fermentation, particularly alcohol. This taste for fermented beverages has been a driving force in the evolution of human biology, agriculture, culture and religion, or so it would seem. McGovern documents this evolution through archeological findings from Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East -- anywhere and everywhere wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages have been made for many thousands of years,from grain, fruit, honey and whatever other raw material mankind could coax into creating intoxicating food and drink. We are, as McGovern has entitled his very first chapter, "Homo Imbibens."

As the book concludes, summing up the theme, "our species' intimate relationship with fermented beverages over millions of years has, in large measure, made us what we are today."

Being neither an archeologist nor a paleontologist, I found some of the copious detail presented in this book to be tough sledding. Nevertheless, it is a fascinating read and worth the effort.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Celebration of Human Ingenuity, December 20, 2011

By 

Dr. Beer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages (Paperback)

You expect to learn about grapes and barley, but you also find out that chocolate was originally an alcoholic beverage. And that maybe the ancestors of maize were used to make an alcoholic beverage. The take home message is that our ancient ancestors were clever and resourceful, and they could brew up alcohol from nearly anything that was or could be made sweet.

Uncorking the past is informative and fun to read. People who are interested in how humans got to where we are will enjoy this book.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, December 29, 2010

By 

beergeekjoey "beergeekjoey" (Stafford County, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages (Hardcover)

Lots of interesting history of humankind and their favorite beverages. Well-written and entertaining, though there are parts that come off a bit repetitive.