Bartow J. Elmore grew up in Coke country: Atlanta, Georgia. An environmental and business historian, he teaches at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
As the soda wars heat up, this book is an indispensable resource. -- Michael Pollan Lucid... What Elmore does best is analyze how Coke takes advantage of global public works and government interventions to boost its place in world markets. -- Beth Macy - New York Times Book Review Citizen Coke demonstrate[s] a complete lack of understanding about ... the Coca-Cola system- past and present. -- Ted Ryan, the Coca-Cola Company A well-researched and accessible history of one of the world's most iconic brands. -- Publishers Weekly Coca-Cola is one of the most powerful economic institutions of our time, but its social and ecological impacts remain understudied. Now, in the hands of a talented young historian, corporate capitalism gets the attention it deserves in a careful dissection of the material underpinnings of the world's most valuable brand. Citizen Coke will cause you to drink less and think more. -- Ted Steinberg, author of Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York Citizen Coke is a brilliant analysis of Coke's empire in ecological, economic, and social terms. It allows us to see the contours of an economy based on partnerships between governments and corporations like Coca-Cola. It makes us conscious of the giant ecological footprint of the Real Thing, which impacts the real lives of real people. If you want a deeper understanding of our world today, read Citizen Coke. -- Vandana Shiva, author of Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply A fascinating, thought-provoking approach to Coca-Cola history through the drink's primary ingredients-water, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, coca leaf, caffeine-and the glass, plastic, and aluminum that contain them. -- Mark Pendergrast, author of For God, Country & Coca-Cola [Offers] unaccustomed perspectives on a company whose leading product is a household name around the globe... thought-provoking. -- Marc Levinson - Wall Street Journal