And How It Transformed the World.
Coffee has dominated the economies, politics, and social structures of entire countries. The second most valuable legally exported commodity on earth, coffee delivers the largest jolt of the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug.
In this much acclaimed book, Mark Pendergast pours out a rich history of the coffee industry, vividly representing lush tropical regions where the crop is grown, busy street corners that are home to Starbucks, and boardrooms where millions of dollars are at stake. It traces coffee's role in Latin American exports, American imports, and European social law.
Full of lively anecdotes, eccentric characters, and period commentary, this book is an entertaining examination of the phenomenon of coffee.
