A Short History of Coffee

From the Boston Tea Party to the French Revolution, from business meetings to first dates, the humble bean has been the beverage of choice to accompany momentous and everyday events for hundreds of years. Gordon Kerr traces its history from its earliest appearance up to the present day..
The drink we know and love today dates back to prehistoric Ethiopia but was first mentioned in print in the 10th century, when an Arab physician discovered that it “fortifies the members…and gives an excellent smell to all the body.” And apparently the Prophet Muhammad could “unhorse forty men and possess forty women” after drinking an early form of coffee. Not exactly the kind of behaviour one is used to seeing in Costa, but anyone who has enjoyed a cup of black coffee first thing in the morning knows where he was coming from. Facts like this abound in this excellent book by Gordon Kerr. Comfy sofas in coffee shops? Introduced by two Syrian coffee-house owners in the 16th century.
Kerr also explores the darker side of coffee’s history, as its cultivation has often involved slave labour. The sections on this will shock you, especially when we are told that slave labour persists in some coffee-producing countries to this day.
Coffee has also caused religious turmoil. In 16th century Cairo, when a preacher declared that coffee drinkers were not true followers of Muhammad it caused a riot, with worshippers attacking and burning a coffee house to the ground.
Coffee has also played a significant role in the cultural history of Europe, and Kerr explores its growth in countries such as France, Germany and especially, as you’d expect, Italy. A chapter is also devoted to coffee’s impact on the Americas.
The book is peppered with quotes from historical figures on encountering the miraculous drink. King Charles II, concerned about London coffee houses being used to spread gossip and “fake news”, sought to suppress them and coffee itself. He didn’t succeed.
Gordon Kerr’s book is a well-written, meticulously researched, funny and thought-provoking history of our favourite beverage, with an astounding fact on every page, and is recommended reading for coffee lovers everywhere.

Many thanks to Oldcastle Books and NetGalley for kindly offering me an advanced reading copy of this title.

This is an informative history of one the world's favourite drink Coffee from it's origins in east Africa to being grown around the world after the Dutch took plants to far east and the Americas also the influence coffee houses had in the development of the modern world.

How much do you know, or want to discover about your morning cup? Gordon Kerr has titled his book 'a short history', this hardly does this work justice. Every page gives you facts that he has unearthed about this beverage. Its early history, political implications and methods used to turn a green bean into an mildly intoxicating drink are explored in minute detail. A recommended read for anyone interested in their morning caffine fix.

Gordon Kerr writes a lot of short histories. His latest is A Short History of Coffee. However, don’t be fooled by the title. The book is still 257 pages, every one bursting with facts. Kerr takes us from Bronze Age Ethiopian goatherds through to Starbucks in 2020. He covers the UK, the US, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Austria – in terms of chronological and geographic coverage, Kerr is pretty thorough.

I thought I knew quite a lot about coffee’s history but Kerr knows more! A French doctor claimed in 1771 that coffee could cause nymphomania, as it stimulated women’s erotic imaginings. Well!

Kerr doesn’t just pour facts down our throats. There are insights too: the growing number of seventeenth century coffee houses reflected changes in society such as the emergence of a middle class that had leisure time and didn’t have to worry about falling foul of a capricious monarch or a murderous Church. American consumption skyrocketed in the nineteenth century by virtue of reduced shipping costs, an efficient transportation system and a sophisticated marketing network.

Is the book perfect? No. There’s a wee bit of stereotyping with the implication that Italians need coffee and suffer its absence or poor quality more than anyone else. I’d rather have read more of Kerr’s excellent insights than have had quite so many facts. Although Britain’s seventeenth- and eighteenth-century coffee culture is very well covered, there isn’t anything about its C20th proliferation of coffee houses and companies like Costa and Caffé Nero. There is a long chapter on the C20 & C21st centuries, but it’s mostly about the US, especially Starbucks, and the Far East; together with sections on Decaf and the business of coffee. Given the book is published in the UK and is in English, I’d rather have read more about the modern UK than about C17th-C18th European countries. No doubt if I was writing this in Boston, Germany or Austria, I’d have a different view!

The review copy I received had no table of contents and no index. I assume that will be remedied in the published version.

Those are minor selfish quibbles, though. Kerr’s book is very well worth buying, reading and keeping on your reference shelf.

#AShortHistoryofCoffee #NetGalley

I don't actually like the taste of coffee but this book gave me a new appreciation for it. Insightful and interesting. Thank you for the ARC!

*A Short History of Coffee* is exactly what it sounds like and I really enjoyed reading it.

Given that it's a "short history," no aspect of the rise and spread of coffee popularity is covered in intimate detail. I would have been happy to read more about coffee, but I understand that others might have a shorter attention span for the minute details of history. I think Kerr could have given more focus on the human rights abuses associated with coffee as a cash crop, but that is my only criticism on this front.

The history aspect of this book covers the Renaissance-era discovery of coffee beans in Yemen and comes up to the advent of Starbucks and the spread of its popularity. I have previously read academic literature on coffee culture in the Ottoman Empire and how the rise of the coffee house gave [male] citizens leisure time, so I appreciated expanding my knowledge further.