Fizz: A Pop History of Carbonation

A new book by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Edward Humes: From Cleopatra’s hot tub to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, from Hannibal to Mormon wives, soda has been with us through it all—and its surprising history parallels our own.

Fizz takes readers around the globe and throughout time to explore the fascinating history of soda. In the 3,000 years since carbonation was discovered, soda is no longer rare—but we’re more entranced than ever by its sweet bubbles. Soda commands the biggest aisle in our supermarkets and snags more farm subsidies than all the fresh fruits and vegetables in the produce aisle combined. Half of America drinks more soda every day than water, with far-reaching influences on our lifestyle, health, economy, and diet.

But what do we actually know about the beverage? Fizz is a character-driven pop cultural history of one of the world’s most powerful, frivolous, popular, dangerous, and transformative products. Edward Humes tosses readers into the bubbling pools of the surprisingly modern spa culture of ancient Rome, then invites us to view the “natural wonder” of soda with characters like George Washington, who believed it was a remedy for dementia. We’ll meet the feuding inventors who first synthesized fizzy water in their London labs, the man nicknamed the “Soda King,” the woman who led the fight against soda in schools, and a storekeeper obsessed with hyper-local craft soda brands.

Blending microhistory, travelogue, and food narrative, Humes explores the connection between the beverage and social movements, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil Rights movement, and gender equality. What can we ultimately learn about ourselves through our relationship with soda?