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Title: Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World by Mark Pendergrast ISBN: 0-465-05467-6 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 25 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.18 (34 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Coffee makes the world go 'round
Comment: It's not everyday you find a five hundred page book on the history of coffee. But then again, most coffee fans take their jobs quite seriously. Author Mark Pendergast has chronicled ups and downs of this remarkable commodity on an unprecedented scale. He takes us from the discovery of the bean in the hills of Ethiopia all the way to the despicable excesses of Starbucks. The first few chapters of this book take us on a jaunty trip through coffee's early history, including the ruthless and colorful European traders who were responsible for introducing the Western world to the bizarre beverage. Pendergast, a businessman by education, then settles into a wonderfully readable economic history. The structure of the material centers on the companies and international agreements that make up the international coffee system. But unlike so many commercially-oriented histories, Uncommon Grounds is eminently readable and captivating. The characters in the saga are fascinating: from American industrialists to Latin American peasants to African warlords to European consumers, there are people involved in this story, not just money. If you have a yen for coffee, grab an espresso and read this book. You won't find weighty theories on how coffee forms the basis of all human history, rather a fun, a caffeine-inspired trip through modernity with java-tinted glasses. -- HistoryHouse.com
Rating: 5
Summary: Serves up a rich blend of history.
Comment: A discovery made in an Ethiopian rainforest centuries ago no commodity such as coffee has brewed up a rich and troubled history. Over the years, the beverage has fomented revolution, spurred deforestation, enriched a few while impoverishing the many, and addicted millions with its psychoactive caffeine. Little do people know that coffee is now the world's second most valuable legal commodity behind oil. The book details the rise and fall of regional coffee brands in the United States, the role of advertising in the industry, the global economic impact of coffee prices, and the recent emergence of specialty coffee retailers like Starbucks. This book serves up a rich blend of anecdote, character study, market analysis and social history. You will always remember this book every time you take that sip of coffee.
FinancialNeeds.com
Rating: 5
Summary: Decent book
Comment: This book is about coffee. Obvious, right?
Yet, it is also about the larger world out there. Our kind author isn't just using coffee as a metaphor, but instead uses Coffee as the proverbial "tip of the iceberg" as a way to talk about larger historical, political and social issues in a way that is palatable to the average reader. Coffee has had a major impact on the United States, from our very beginnings in the Boston Tea Party to our present day position in the land of 24-hour a day television, which of course really means 24 hours a day of advertising.
How has this affected our place in the world? Americans drink a lot of coffee to get a quick pick me up. And that mood enhancing aspect is also included in similar products... those similar products include Cola, Tea, and all sorts of tricked out street drugs designed to make us feel better about who or what we are. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing really isn't important to the discussion at this level, just that we are aware of it.
Coffee has also affected our political dealing with the rest of the world, be it our weird love-hate relationship with South and Central America as a source of coffee, and more currently various illegal drugs. If we weren't buying it they wouldn't be selling it to us. It has also entered into all kinds of health topics and considerations.
Coffee has had a major social and political impact on the Untied States. We use it, and similar products and drugs for various reasons. We threaten political and military consequenences to those who have provided us those things. The "pick me up" aspect makes possible a longer workday for workers in modern society... and this can have productivity increases for companies and people. The advertising methods, those in many ways were invented to "push" coffee are everywhere in our social framework.
And we haven't gotten to coffee's health affects. Is coffee good for you? A simple question that doctors is still trying to properly answer. It has some kind of health impact on our people, but what and how and why are still, in many ways, to be answered.
There is a lot to be said, and my rambling review gives an idea of the many topics this most excellent book covers.
But most importantly, the author tells one how to brew a good cup of coffee.
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Title: The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry from Crop to the Last Drop by Gregory Dicum, Nina Luttinger ISBN: 1565845080 Publisher: New Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Perfect Cup: A Coffee Lover's Guide to Buying, Brewing and Tasting by Timothy James Castle ISBN: 0201570483 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: May, 1991 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Coffee Basics : A Quick and Easy Guide by Kevin Knox, Julie Sheldon Huffaker ISBN: 0471136174 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time by Howard Schultz ISBN: 0786883561 Publisher: Hyperion Press Pub. Date: 13 January, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Devil's Cup : A History of the World According to Coffee by Stewart Lee Allen ISBN: 0345441494 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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