The World of Caffeine

You're going to need caffeine to finish this book:
Weinberg and Bealer's The World of Caffeine brings together history, science, culture, and medical studies into one large volume. What promised, according to the cover, to be a book on the science and culture of the world's most popular drug, ended up being a boring treatise on the history of caffeine. It was only towards the last 1/3 of the book, that it really started picking up, and even then, the medical information bogged down. The authors are careful to list all sides in the caffiene debate, from medical studies, to historical perspectives, never endorsing one side or the other. Because of this lack of a firm position on caffeine, the book read with a very dry, emotionless tone. I found the history interesting, but presented as it was here without any correlations and in strict, chronological order, it sounded more like a text book. Such circumstances, such as the rivalry between the British East India Tea Company and the Dutch East India Tea company might have made for more exciting reading, had they been explored further. As someone who has had an on again-off again relationship with caffeine, I expected more than this book delivered. I wanted a thoughtful, compelling look at caffeine, not dry facts. Still, the book is interesting, if you can slog your way through it.

Well-researched but somehow boring:
This book is really well-researched. All you ever wanted to know about caffeine is in this book. The problem is that the authors stuff the book with so many facts and quotes from other books/treatises that they make it unreadable. This is especially true for the historical part (first part of the book). If you want to know about the history of caffeine, I would not buy this book. The book also has a lot of very interesting statistics and facts, and just for that reason, I will keep it.

Very interesting:
One of the best non-fiction I have ever read. Very interesting! It covers history, science, commerce and many other aspects of caffeine culture. Caffeine is THE drug of choice of most of the world population. Coffee, Cocoa, Tea, Guarana, Mate, and Cola: in all countries in the world at least one of these plants is a popular drink. Add soft drinks (most of them contain refined caffeine) to the above list and we may assume that most of the world population consumes caffeine on a regular basis.

Staggering:
Anyone with any questions about the use, cultural associations and perceptions, or trade of caffeine-containing substances throughout history should look to this work first. Bealer and Weinberg have scoured an impressive range of texts to compile this work, and in so doing have produced an authoritative reader on the subject. The World of Caffeine is an achievement not to be overlooked by anyone with an interest in the subject.

Excellent condition:
This book was supposedly used but came to me in perfect condition. Thank you!