WINE

Capaciously informative and endlessly entertaining Tom Holland co host of The Rest Is HistoryIn the beginning there was the vine Wine a drink a medicine a ritual and a commodity Across millennia it has been used to celebrate and commiserate as a negotiating tool and a diplomatic gift But where and when was it first discovered And how did it become a worldwide phenomenon From the planting of grape seeds in conquered territories across Ancient Rome to the uprooting of vineyards during the Chinese Communist Revolution this is the first truly global survey of wine from acclaimed historian Kathleen Burk From a symbol of civilisation to the depths of debauchery the formation of new trade routes to the consolidation of empires Burk traces the story of our contemporary civilisation through one of the world s most ancient and sought after pleasures