Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed the World

Coffee has dominated the economies, politics, and social structures of entire countries. The second most valuable legally exported commodity on earth, coffee delivers the largest jolt of the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug. In this work, Mark Prenderghast pours out a history of the coffee industry, presenting lush tropical regions where the crop is grown, busy street corners that are home to Starbucks, and boardrooms where millions of dollars are at stake. The book traces coffee's role in Latin American exports, American imports, and European social law.