Cigarettes

Anatomy of an Industry from Seed to Smoke

Wall Street Journal reporter Tara Parker-Pope presents the clearest picture yet of the most conspicuous consumer product on the planet, telling the fast-paced business story behind this 350 billion dollar industry

“A useful guide to the world’s most lethal legal industry.” —The New York Times Book Review

Cigarettes chronicles the controversies of a 350 billion dollar industry, telling the fast-paced business story of cigarettes—from seed to smoke—that surprises as it entertains. In a book Publishers Weekly calls “an absorbing and informative history of cigarettes,” Parker-Pope provides “up-to-date coverage of the recent tobacco industry litigation [that] is not only concise and accessible, but illuminating.” The author, who follows the tobacco industry for the Wall Street Journal, offers a unique spin on a much-covered topic, examining the commercial aspect of an industry that became the biggest business success story of the twentieth century.

Praise

“An absorbing and informative history . . . Parker-Pope's up-to-date coverage . . . is not only concise and accessible, but illuminating.”
Publishers Weekly
“A probing study.”
Booklist
“Full of fascinating tidbits . . . a journalistic portrait, alternately affectionate and damning, of the world's favorite weed.”
Kirkus Reviews

Goodreads Reviews