The History of Beer: Ancient Ales to Craft Creations (The History Series)

What if beer didn't just fuel parties, but actually built pyramids, funded wars, and sparked revolutions? This book traces 6,000 years of brewing history, from Sumerian workers collecting their wages in beer to Prohibition-era rebels fighting for the right to drink. It turns out the history of civilization and the history of beer are nearly impossible to separate.

Along the way, you'll discover that Egyptian pyramid builders drank a 4% "liquid bread" daily, medieval monks brewed psychedelic ales with bog myrtle, Tudor brewers poisoned their customers with lead sulfate for a sweeter taste, and the plotters behind the Boston Tea Party met in alehouses. The book covers brewing traditions from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Viking Scandinavia to monastic Europe, colonial America, and the 20th century's stranger chapters, including Nazi attempts to create an "Aryan beer" and Soviet factories dosing worker rations with anti-alcohol chemicals. The large print format keeps every odd detail easy to read.

What's inside:

• Ancient brewing: Sumerian beer wages, Egyptian liquid bread, Aztec spit-fermentation, and the oldest recorded complaint about not getting enough beer (Babylon, 1750 BC)
• Medieval monks and their secrets: Trappist fermentation testing, "penitence ale" sold to sinners, and the psychoactive herbs that came before hops
• Beer and power: how beer taxes funded Protestant rebellions, how pubs became political meeting grounds, and how brewing shaped colonial economies
• Dangerous brews: Tudor lead poisoning, Viking funeral ale boats, and the real origin story behind IPA
• Modern twists: Prohibition, Nazi beer propaganda, Soviet anti-alcohol campaigns, and how industrial brewing changed everything

Reader review:
"The chapter on monastic brewing was my favorite. Trappist monks apparently used live finches to test fermentation fumes, and if the birds died, the batch was scrapped. Every chapter has something like that. It's well-researched but reads like pub conversation. Large print was a nice touch too." Amber P.

Whether you're a craft beer enthusiast, a history reader, or just someone who's curious how a grainy porridge turned into one of civilization's most important drinks, this book has 6,000 years of stories you probably haven't heard before.

Order your copy today.