"Pendergrast has served up a rich blend of anecdote, character study, market analysis, and social history...everything you ought to know about coffee is here."

-New York Times The first comprehensive business and social history of coffee, which describes how coffee has dominated and molded the economies, politics, and social structures of entire countries. Pendergrast's scrupulously researched and lively anecdotal history provides a window through which to view broader themes of modern-day media and marketing, the rise of mass production, colonialism, women's issues, and international commodity schemes.