Although this book is now a few years old, it is still quite excellent -we are still living in the Starbucks era (which the book completely covers), started underground by Peet's and the specialty coffee retailers. Fortunately, this book is more than about lattes. The book wins significant points on balance and comprehensiveness - starts from the legends of Ethiopia and works from there, in a very evenhanded and thorough manner, but not so thorough that it becomes difficult to read. The book has a fairly international scope, though with a US focus in the last half. My only complaint is that in several pages, the book gets a little bogged down in the complexities of commodities trading (though it does explain why a cup of coffee ended up a nickel for so long) Definitely worth reading if you want a complete history of coffee.

Given that I wanted some background on the coffee industry, this was a great introduction. It provided details of the origins of coffee and how the major players have been formed and evolved over the years. It also illustrates how political coffee can be. Sometimes, I found it a little hard going and one slight criticism would be that it is somewhat US centric in its focus on the demand side but given the breadth of the subject matter the author had to make choices. In summary, a good solid read and a useful reference for the industry.

This is such an informative and detailed history that it must take it's place as one of the most important books on coffee. Pendergrast's deep and broad probe of the historical context is really marvelous, and although most of us are not that interested in the machinations of the old coffee families this is really a fascinating tour of capitalism at work.

Personally, I would have liked more on the colonial and neo-colonial exploitation of indigenous peoples; after all, this is the story of agriculture in the slave-owning tropics. Still, his sympathies seem fairly obvious. I'm just saying this could have been a vehicle for a stronger statement about the ravages of racism and exploitation.

As a total freak, who roasts his own green beans, I didn't get bored with any of the book but I think non-coffee drinkers might find some of it heavy sledding. I used it for bedtime reading for a couple of months.

Thank you Mr. Pendergrast for a great contribution to the public's knowledge and appreciation of a zesty subject.

From the early beginnings of coffee's discovery to the maturation of the specialty coffee revolution in 1999 it's all here. Provided of course you live in North America.

We learn neat little bits of history such as how almost all the coffee trees in Latin America are descended from a single specimen. A plant that survived storms, pirates and a fellow passenger to make in to Martinique. As with the previous plant another descendent made its way to Brazil with much intrigue (and adultery). The coffee house revolutions in governments (in France) and science (in England) are also covered.
The beginnings of Latin American coffee are then explored and the inequalities are laid very early. This will lead to a later chapter where the effects of this inequality (or slavery would be a better word) will rip through the heart of Latin America, staining the ground red with the blood of thousands. Before that chapter though we have a full explanation of the growth of coffee and the big coffee companies.
Folgers, Maxwell House, MJB etc. Mixed in with this we start to see the wild price swings and the boom/bust cycles. Brazil by this point is the big dog on the block and starts "valorization". This is an attempt to control prices similar to OPEC. Except coffee is warehoused.
We then travel though the early part of the 20th Century. Here we see the decline in coffee quality from freshly roasted coffee delivered fresh to big supermarket pre-staled pre-ground coffee. Eventually by the mid 60's quality declines further to Robusta laden instant coffee. It seems coffee by this point is only sold by price (the lower the better, taste be dammed).
Thankfully we are brought out of the darkness by the specialty coffee revolution. This is where fair trade and coffee with a conscience start to come to the fore. And consumers finally are introduced to the Italian coffee bars brought to you by Starbucks. While Starbucks wasn't the only specialty retailer its growth was nothing short of phenomenal.

Overall this book is a great read on the history of an amazing bean. My only gripe is that an updated edition is sorely needed.
Also look for a coffee documentary called "Black Coffee"(on DVD) where the author is featured quite prominently. This was the reason I bought this book.

Resting next to your mouse or keyboard - at a safe distance! - your cuppa steams aromatically. The morning coffee, whether at home or work, is the "kick-starter" of many a person's day. For some, it must be a special flavour, brewed to taste, yet often mixed with sweeteners or cow juice, real or otherwise. For the rest, anything hot and caffeine-laced is sufficient. Yet almost none of us ask where that beverage came from, why we drink it and why North Americans stick with coffee and others with tea. Mark Pendergrast asked, and asked some more and in many places. The result is this captivating book relating the history of our favourite beverage. It must be important if we write songs about it.

Opening by relating the Ethiopian myth of the goat-herd wanting to learn why his charges danced about in the bush, Pendergrast quickly traces the spread of coffee elsewhere. Coffee houses, beginning long ago, became quickly popular as gathering places. News and gossip were swopped over steaming cups. Patrons didn't exactly dance about as the goats did, but there must have been something more than just lounging about. The coffee house, viewed as a den of vice or worse, sedition, has been banned by various insecure rulers. Charles II of England, fearful his reign might go the way of his father's, tried to shut them down. He was correct, since the howl of protest might have generated another rebellion. The king withdrew the ban.

While coffee houses remained in place, some becoming gloriously decorated institutions, it was the home market that enlarged the role of coffee. Pendergrast tracks that shift with a colourful history of coffee's economic growth in the Western Hemisphere. As tea was consumed in Britain in a form of support for the East India Company, so did coffee rise as part of North American patriotic fervour. The nascent United States took up coffee with alacrity, the habit made easier by the proximity of the growing nations. The author notes that once coffee took root in Brazil, that nation became the backbone of the coffee industry.

Coffee's status as a cash crop, however, made it vulnerable to numerous forces - not the least weather. Grown at various elevations, but rarely on environmentally stable plains, coffee is subject to storms and frosts. Like grape vines, coffee is also vulnerable to a virus infestation. Prices rise and fall in a highly unpredictable market. Pendergrast notes how at the beginning of the 20th Century, the US penchant for cheap coffee led the government to make early attempts at meddling with Brazil's domestic economy. It was easy to claim Brazil's growers and wholesalers were "fixing" prices by storing millions of bags in warehouses, when their real intention was price stablilisation.

Pendergrast traces the growth of this industry with a fine flair for detail. Price shifts, marketing techniques, changes in tastes and the growth of dealers from small shops to national chains are all covered well. While there are many names and control shifts about in various locations, the author keeps us with him as he recounts the interactions. There is little technical to distract or delay the reader - he keeps the chemistry of coffee tucked away in a final chapter. To reach that point, however, the reader is guided through the founding and expansion of such names as Folger's, Hills Brothers and A&P. It's not all pleasant reading, of course. We must pause to cope with the palate-insulting phenomenon of "instant" coffee [you don't actually drink that stuff, do you?]. There are a few unpleasant people to meet. However, we also learn that with home-served coffee being served by sometimes abused housewives, some enterprising women entered the coffee trade arena. Some of these did so well they are legends in the industry.

This is an excellent book on a "hidden" topic. To understand why coffee prices shift and wobble, why this is the second most valuable resource in the world, why one brand is a delight to drink while another goes down the drain after the first taste, this is the place to find out. While you're ordering your copy, i'll just nip off to the kitchen for another cuppa . . . [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]