"...a very valuable book...Lie any good book, this one raises as many questions as it answers. It is a solidly anthropological volume, combining biological and cultural dimension of the discipline. I recommend the book highly." · American Anthropologist Over the last decades quite a few studies have been devoted to drinking. Most of these were concerned with alcohol and written by social anthropologists. This book presents multidisciplinary aspects of the ingestion of liquids at large, addressing many of the overt and covert meanings of drinking: from satisfying biological needs to communicating with humans and the hereafter, attempting to reach a differential emotional state or seeking good health and longevity through the ingestion of appropriate beverages. It includes papers from both biological and social scientists and covers a fair range of societies from rural and urban environments, and in continents and countries ranging from Europe, Africa, and Latin America to Malaysia and the Pacific. Igor de Garine, Emeritus Director of Research, CNRS, Paris, and President of the International Commission for the Anthropology of Food