The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America

Book Description

The definitive history of the cigarette, the product that shaped twentieth-century America--from modern advertising to science, from regulatory politics to our sense of glamour and style.

The industrial manufacture of cigarettes began in the late nineteenth century, but it wasn't until the invention of the modern consumer, advertising campaign--pioneered by cigarette brands--that the product really took off at the turn of the century. The cigarette became an indispensable accessory of glamour and sex appeal: from Marlene Dietrich to Humphrey Bogart to Anne Bancroft, we have imagined stars with cigarettes in their mouths, and imitated them.

The cigarette--the ultimate icon of our consumer culture--serves as a vehicle for historian Allan Brandt to explore critical aspects of American life. From agriculture to big business, from medicine to politics, The Cigarette Century shows how smoking came to be so deeply implicated in our culture, science, policy, and law. In this magisterial book, Brandt demonstrates how the cigarette reflects the most powerful debates of our time about risk, responsibility, and human health. The Cigarette Century reaches across many disciplines to form a broad and compelling synthesis, showing how one humble (and largely useless) product came to play such a dominant role in our lives and deaths.

Customer Reviews:

An Ominous Precursor.......2007-09-08

Given the size of the book, I was sure I was going to be perusing it only. However, the similarity to what I have seen with the wireless industry made me go back and read it in detail...disturbingly familiar detail. Read this to get a preview of its inevitable sequel...The Cell Phone Century.

death by smoking.......2007-08-19

This is the story of how smoking, once a socially acceptable, pleasurable behavior, became a disgusting habit for the smoker, a danger to non-smokers, a crime for cigarette makers and a financial windfall for some smokers, lawyers, and state governments. The book is well written, well documented and very readable but we know where the author stands. He tells us that 400,000 or 500,000 people are "killed" every year from smoking. Death by gunshot is instant and violent. This happens to about 30,000 people a year and no manufacturer is criminally responsible. Death by smoking can occur 20 to 45 years after smoking begins during which time the smoker could have abused his body in other ways but if not, aging and genetics contribute to death. Even though smokers choose cigarettes for pleasure with full knowledge of long term health consequences, the author concludes that abusive smoking that leads to disease is the criminal responsibility of tobacco companies.
A consequence of education, litigation, and the high cost of cigarettes is that fewer people smoke today. However, there has been a surge in obesity and obesity related health costs and shortened life spans. Mr. Brandt, if people are addicted to fatty foods and feed fatty foods to their children should Krispe Kreme and McDonalds be held criminally responsible as more and more people are diagnosed with diabetes and other diseases related to abusive eating? I wonder how many people are "killed" every year from abusive eating?

Completely unbiased masterpiece! Five stars.......2007-08-08

This book provided a completely unbiased look at this demon weed that has been plaguing this evil nation from its advent! Tobacco! This may seem strange to hear a liberal bashing a narcotic and crying for it to be made illegal, especially since they are so desperately pushing for legalization of marijuana, the products evil twin, but trust me it all makes sense when Mr. Brandt breaks it down for us.

Brandt begins with the first use of tobacco by our pilgrim ancestors. Brandt informs us that they got the Indians hooked on tobacco as kind of a way to enslave them and get land from them. They got them addicted so they would have to keep buying it.

How did America get those huge land grabs, like the Louisiana purchase, at such little money? They offered this deadly hallucinogenic tobacco weed to them and had them sign the papers under the influence!

They tried to get the hippies to smoke it, but the hippies had the very pure and healthy marijuana weed which made them smarter so they knew not to smoke it.

In short, I now realize that we have to, I mean it is imperative, that we get tobacco illegal and marijuana legal.

Excellent, readable, and more widely applicable beyond tobacco.......2007-06-20

This is an excellent book, and not just about cigarettes. As evidence of the "persistence" part of the title, candy-flavored cigarettes have a clear target market ( <18 year-old). RJ Reynolds agreed in 2006 *not* to call them luscious names like "Twista Lime", "Mandarin Mint" ... but they can still *sell* them.

So, 40+ years after "The Surgeon General has determined..." in 1964, this is still an issue. SG Luther Terry's political skillfulness in getting that report to happen added him to my list of heroes.

This book is much more widely applicable, because it ably chronicles distortion and obfuscation of science by economic and political interests.

Some kinds of scientific proof depend on long efforts to accumulate evidence, need good statistical analysis. Such are not amenable to simple lab experiments, and even when they are, may well not be ethical. ("Here: try this: we want to see if you get cancer" is properly not done.) Topics whose science is of this sort can be prone to long, drawn-out fights, especially when the scientific results threaten strong interests whose best approach is controversy and confusion.

The conflicts over sulfates:acid rain and CFCs:ozone depletion resemble smoking:disease, but the clearest parallel with the latter is the battle over CO2: human-induced global warming.

In both cases, there were:
A) people who believed something (and sometimes exaggerated) well in advance of the science (anti-tobacco moralists, global warming alarmists), and sometimes irritated others by their stridency.

B) people who had economic interests (tobacco companies, oil companies), who took very strong (but opposing) positions. These were sometimes joined by people with ideological reasons for minimizing government regulation.

C) Scientists, who take years to collect good evidence, are careful in their conclusions, but who struggle to be heard though masses of disinformation generated by B), and sometimes wince at exaggerations from A), even as scientific results starts to approach A)'s views.

In both cases, industry funded think-tanks, lobbyists, and a tiny handful of scientists to cast doubt on the science, using similar tactics, and often, employed by the same organizations and people.

As a result Brandt's book is a dandy case study on the twisty interactions of science, economics, and politics, and its lessons may help us analyze other contentious issues as well.

One of the best books of the year.......2007-06-17

Allan Brandt's new book, "The Cigarette Century", is as comprehensive a study on one subject as I've seen in a long time. Written crisply and authoritatively, Brandt covers the tobacco industry from the end of the nineteenth century through today with cigarettes as his main focus. What he has researched, uncovered and passed onto the reader in an expansive (yet truly condensed) form is terrific. His book is a blockbuster.

Cigarettes have been around for a long while in the United States but not until James Bonsack's rolling machine came into play in 1881 (churning out 200 cigarettes per minute) could they be distributed on a wide-scale basis. It wasn't until World War I, however, that the national demand for the product really took off, and did it ever! Brandt's book is a parallel study of American sociological history of the twentieth century as cigarettes have been at the center of so much of our cultural life. Women began smoking in earnest in the 1920s and Hollywood added its own weight with countless movie stars puffing away in countless films to remind the public of the "joys" of smoking. Advertisements abounded and cigarettes were here to stay.

Along came the 1950s and things began to change. This is where Brandt's book really takes off as he begins to shape the "controversy" between the industry and those determined to warn Americans of the risks of smoking. The Surgeon General's report of 1964 declaring smoking to be hazardous to one's health (later packaging warnings reminded the smoker of the same) was a big first step as the public was beginning to question the safety of cigarettes. While more and more research on the dangers of cigarette smoking was made public, the tobacco companies fought tooth and nail to assure Americans that all was well. Lawsuits began to be filed on an increasing level yet the industry was always one step ahead of its detractors. Tobacco companies insisted that safety was a primary concern, but being "remarkably effective in resisting serious health initiatives", they were not. Brandt concludes "we now know a good deal about how this goal was achieved: a careful mixture of reassurance, half-truths, innovative public relations, disinformation, and deception." Calling their actions "the crime of the century", (the title of his epilogue) the author has, by this point, made a careful and compelling argument for that chapter's title.

In my lifetime there have been three major social changes that I've noticed, one being that there are many fewer smokers today in the United States than when I was being raised. Yet, as Brandt points out, tobacco companies learned that if they can't sell as many cigarettes at home they'll export them...with no regard to the health of other nations' citizens. The industry seems to be winning again at the expense of those whose health fails after using their product, creating a pandemic just under the radar screen.

I highly recommend Allan Brandt's "The Cigarette Century". It's an eye-opener, extremely well-written and well-paced, and will either give you a new angle at which to look at cigarettes or reinforce the thoughts you may have had already. I think it is one of the best books of the year.

Average customer rating:

Everyone's A Caricature
Satire at its best
Thank You for Smoking
very smart book.
Smarmy, Trite, Dated

Thank You for Smoking
Christopher Buckley
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Satire, General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0679431748
Release Date: 1994-05-17

Amazon.com

"Nick Naylor had been called many things since becoming chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. But until now no one had actually compared him to Satan." They might as well have, though. "Gucci Goebbels," "yuppie Mephistopheles," and "death merchant" are just a few endearments Naylor has earned himself as the tobacco lobby's premier spin doctor. The hero of Thank You for Smoking does of course have his fans. His arguments against the neo-puritanical antismoking trends of the '90s have made him a repeat guest on Larry King, and the granddaddy of Winston-Salem wants him to be the anointed heir. Still, his newfound notoriety has unleashed a deluge of death threats.

Christopher Buckley's satirical gift shines in this hilarious look at the ironies of "personal freedom" and the unbearable smugness of political correctness. Bracing in its cynicism, Thank You for Smoking is a delightful meander off the beaten path of mainstream American ethics. And despite his hypertension-inducing, slander-splattered, morally bankrupt behavior--which leads one Larry King listener to describe him as "lower than whale crap"--you'll find yourself rooting for smoking's mass enabler. --Rebekah Warren

Book Description

Nobody blows smoke like Nick Naylor. He’s a spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies–in other words, a flack for cigarette companies, paid to promote their product on talk and news shows. The problem? He’s so good at his job, so effortlessly unethical, that he’s become a target for both anti-tobacco terrorists and for the FBI. In a country where half the people want to outlaw pleasure and the other want to sell you a disease, what will become of the original Puff Daddy?

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

Everyone's A Caricature.......2007-10-09

Thank You for Smoking is a collection of caricatures, each more clever than the other. The Mod (Merchants of Death) Squad is a great concept, and the cigarette, alcohol, and firearms pitchmen that comprise it are outlandish uber-parodies. The same with the Captain (Doak Boykin), the urbane, old moneyed, vaguely racist, mint julep drinking tobacco industry leader with the weak ticker. There's even a Malboro Man equivalent, the rugged Tumbleweed Man. All are so over the top as to be ridiculous, yet something tells me they're exactly as Nanny state politicians and class action attorneys picture them.

Of course, the politicians are just as unctuous- philandering liars who can be bought on short money. The histrionic anti-tobacco activists don't come off pure, either, exaggerating statistics and exploiting kids with cancer to further their aims. [After all, "smoking is the nation's leading cause of statistics."]

The character development was far and away TYFS's strength; the meandering, unrealistic plot was its weakness. The story line is pretty thin, and the book's climax is unfortunately its least believable aspect. In general, there is a huge conspiracy afoot that requires you to swallow an awful lot. Some characters and subplots are brought up without any development, such as Nick's son, and the idea of making a movie to revitalize onscreen smoking.

Still, the characters and their excellent dialogue alone make this worth reading. Major character and smoking spokesman Nick Naylor's charm, spin, and rationalization of why, for instance, cheese is worse for you than cigarette smoke, make for an unforgettable character. Buckley's use of imagined newspaper headlines, and fictitious dialogue from minor players like Larry King and Oprah are inspired.

Satire at its best.......2007-07-21

In the daily melodramas of Washington life--at least the stock versions offered by the hometown paper and the network news--the plots are predictable and the characters easy to read. We have good guys (public-interest lawyers, environmentalists, idealistic congressmen calling for an "expanded federal role"), and we have bad guys (pro-lifers, Second Amendment enthusiasts, people with Pentagon contracts). And then we have the really, really bad guys: the publicists, talking heads, and spinmeisters of the Tobacco Institute, the infamous lobbying arm of the tobacco industry.

Watching one of these poor souls bob and weave on MacNeil-Lehrer, or grimace through a grilling on the morning shows, you can't help wondering: What's it like to be so openly hated, so contemptuously disbelieved, as the fellow who drags himself from bed each morning to defend a product only slightly more popular than Thalidomide? Does his mom hate him, too? Does his wife believe him when he explains why he's late for dinner? Do the kids mind when the Discovery channel compares dad to Himmler? Has he never thought of chucking it all for an easier job--say, writing jokes for Elie Wiesel?

Not all of those human questions are specifically asked and answered by Christopher Buckley in Thank You for Smoking, his new satirical novel; actually, none of them is. But Mr. Buckley has set for himself the large task of entering that rarefied circle of PR hell where the tobacco spokesman resides, to give him flesh and depth, to show with some sympathy his inner life, to share his pain. And then to kill him off. Or almost kill him off.

Our hero is Nick Naylor, chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies (for which read: the Tobacco Institute). Like many spokesfolk, Nick is a journalist who failed upward. As a local Washington TV reporter he made the mistake one evening of announcing to a live television audience that the President had, in fact, died, when he had, in fact, not. For that minor error he was removed from the trade of journalism and entered the trade of public relations, where inaccuracy is more highly prized. The pay is better, too.

Nick's job of ceaseless prevarication does not especially trouble him. And Mr. Buckley records his dissembling with such precision, and such relish, that we won't be especially bothered by it, either. Here, to take one of his riffs at random, is Nick pleading for a ceasefire in the smoking wars, with Katie Couric (one of many media stars who make cameos in the novel): "Well, Katie, you can't spell tolerance without the t in tobacco. Our position all along has been, we understand there are people who care strongly about smoking. We're saying, Let's work together on this. Let's get some dialogue going. This is a big country, a great country, and there's plenty of room in it for smoking and nonsmoking areas."

The patter is worthy of Elmer Gantry or Professor Harold Hill. Like them, too, Nick is a bottomless fount of information. Did you know that smoking prevents Parkinson's disease? Scientific data suggest that it does. And smoking reduces the incidence of carpal-tunnel syndrome, since smokers take more frequent breaks from their computer keyboards. At the same time, bans on smoking in the workplace have led to an alarming rise in pneumonia, from thrusting smokers into the elements merely because they've chosen to enjoy a pleasurable recreational activity enjoyed by forty million other Americans.

In thus defending the right to smoke, Nick is cheered on by the MOD Squad--a small luncheon group that takes its name from its members' reputations as Merchants of Death. Charter members are Bobby Jay, of "SAFETY, the Society for the Advancement of Firearms and Effective Training of Youth, formerly NRTBAC, the National Right to Bear Arms Committee," and Polly of the "Moderation Council, formerly the National Association for Alcoholic Beverages."

I do not doubt that in the vast chow dens of Washington, some equivalent of the MOD Squad actually exists. "Their guests had come from such groups as the Society for the Humane Treatment of Calves, representing the veal industry, the Friends of Dolphins, formerly the Pacific Tuna Fishermen's Association, the American Highway Safety Association, representing triple-trailer truckers, the Land Enrichment Foundation, formerly the Coalition for the Responsible Disposal of Radioactive Waste, and others."

What brings this sad band of brothers and sisters together is their shared fate: to defend, for pay, the quotidian pleasures and practices of American life against the assaults of a new, aggressive, and spectacularly priggish political culture. But the MOD Squad's solidarity is sorely tested when the going gets even tougher, as it does when a band of anti-smoking zealots (or so it seems) kidnaps Nick and attempts to terminate him with extreme prejudice, by plastering him with (what else?) nicotine patches. From here the plot accelerates; I won't spoil your pleasure by telling you where it leads, except to say that you'll be amazed at where you end up.

Thank You for Smoking is at once a mystery, a political drama, and a knowing social satire of the first rank.

It's a dicey combination, and I can't think of another contemporary American novelist who could pull it off with such dexterity and high spirits. Mr. Buckley's ear for the cant of bureaucracy and publicity is pitch-perfect, and his rendering of the essential absurdity of so much of Washington life is unsparing but always humane. Christopher Buckley's Washington is much more entertaining than the stock version, and, I'm sorry to say, much more believable.

Thank You for Smoking.......2007-04-15

This is an entertaining film, worth watching. My main comment is that while called a satire, it serves as a very powerful public relations piece for the tobacco industry. Deep down, I think that tobacco money or influence was a big part of the reason why the film was made. If not, it is an unfortunate coincidence that the film is a strong criticism for anti-smoking activists and a strong justification for what the tobacco industry has done. And even worse, the film implies that the tobacco industry has been tamed by law suits and regulations, while in truth, the economic strength of the industry is greater than ever. While the film indicated that the "bad guys" have been punished, in fact, the industry boomed after the tobacco settlement. And the audience comes to love the man who advocates "trying yourself", "not being told what to do", and "choice" for a product that continues to increase nicotine in cigarettes even as it pretends to warn people of the dangers. As a film, this is very good. As a propaganda piece, it is a real work of art. Watch it and notice how you feel at the end. Who do you like? Who do you ridicule? If the film is done well, those feelings have been crafted by the story. The film is a real success, but I am sorry that this is the success that is sought. This is a film that promotes the tobacco industry.

very smart book........2007-03-19

this book is an incredibly good, slap in your face kind of book. the humor is so on and sophisticated that one would have to be insane not to like this book. the first thing i am going to say is that the the book ends way differently from the movie. if you have the time to read the book first, please do so. the story carried very well and i never really lost interest (like i do with most other books). the book really does hit the nail on the head with the portayal of special interest groups and how their hands are almost always in politics. the story was very well thought out and the plot was incredibly enjoyable. a very good book indeed.

Smarmy, Trite, Dated.......2007-03-16

There's nothing clever, insightful or entertaining about this novel. It's regurgitated College Republican pabulum that won't appeal to any intelligent person over the age of 22. The characters are two-dimensional cardboard cliches of DC reporters, lobbyists, and politicians along the lines of "Bullworth." Cynical adolescent smarm that will only intrigue those with the most rudimentary knowledge or education regarding politics.

Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris

Average customer rating:

Great history book
Wall Street Journal Reporter Narrates History of CIgarette Making
A History Lesson in Tobacco
Long, but good
Y'all said it: good but loooooong

Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris
Richard Kluger
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Industrial | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Customs & Traditions | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0394570766
Release Date: 1996-04-14

Book Description

No book before this one has rendered the story of cigarettes -- mankind's most common self-destructive instrument and its most profitable consumer product -- with such sweep and enlivening detail.

Here for the first time, in a story full of the complexities and contradictions of human nature, all the strands of the historical process -- financial, social, psychological, medical, political, and legal -- are woven together in a riveting narrative. The key characters are the top corporate executives, public health investigators, and antismoking activists who have clashed ever more stridently as Americans debate whether smoking should be closely regulated as a major health menace.

We see tobacco spread rapidly from its aboriginal sources in the New World 500 years ago, as it becomes increasingly viewed by some as sinful and some as alluring, and by government as a windfall source of tax revenue. With the arrival of the cigarette in the late-nineteenth century, smoking changes from a luxury and occasional pastime to an everyday -- to some, indispensable -- habit, aided markedly by the exuberance of the tobacco huskers.

This free-enterprise success saga grows shadowed, from the middle of this century, as science begins to understand the cigarette's toxicity. Ironically the more detailed and persuasive the findings by medical investigators, the more cigarette makers prosper by seeming to modify their product with filters and reduced dosages of tar and nicotine.

We see the tobacco manufacturers come under intensifying assault as a rogue industry for knowingly and callously plying their hazardous wares while insisting that the health charges against them (a) remain unproven, and (b) are universally understood, so smokers indulge at their own risk.

Among the eye-opening disclosures here: outrageous pseudo-scientific claims made for cigarettes throughout the '30s and '40s, and the story of how the tobacco industry and the National Cancer Institute spent millions to develop a "safer" cigarette that was never brought to market.

Dealing with an emotional subject that has generated more heat than light, this book is a dispassionate tour de force that examines the nature of the companies' culpability, the complicity of society as a whole, and the shaky moral ground claimed by smokers who are now demanding recompense.

Customer Reviews:

Great history book.......2005-10-15

Just about every great society has one crop whose presence is intertwined throughout its history, effecting the history, culture, and economics of the nation. For China it would be rice, potatoes for Ireland, coca for Columbia, and most likely tobacco for America. This Pulitzer-Prize winning book shows how and why tobacco is so important to America's history. Specifically, the book traces and examines the economic role of tobacco and the economic policies of the tobacco companies (growers, traders, sellers, etc...) from the 1800s on through the 1990s.

Subjects that are covered in this tome include tobacco farming, the making of cigarettes, advertising in papers, radio, TV and billboards, lobbying of govt officials to reduce regulation, PR wars with health advocates, promotion of overseas sales, and of course, the court cases fought between Big Tobacco (RJR,Philip Morris, Brown & Williamson, etc...) and various consumers, consumer groups, government agencies, and governments. The book puts all of this together in a chronological history of tobacco with an emphasis on the role of big corporations like Philip Morris. The author has put this book together using a wide variety of sources both primary and secondary, including a lot of interviews with former and current employees at tobacco companies.

By reading this book, one learns a lot about various aspects of American law, culture, economics, and history. These include consumer relations, agro-business, medical research, lobbying, and advertising. OVerall, this is a great book, and I highly recommend it for anyone to read.

Wall Street Journal Reporter Narrates History of CIgarette Making.......2005-08-03

Well deserving of the Pulitzer Prize that it won, this book
tells the story of the growth of the industry - and the political
controversies about it - largely through the eyes of the main Tobacco Industry executives and lawyers. Beautifully written and
wittily objective, this is the best single place to start to understand this complex 20th century American phenomeon.

A History Lesson in Tobacco.......2002-10-21

I highly recommend Ashes to Ashes, by Richard Kluger, to anyone who wants to know more about the tobacco industry. Kluger provides a comprehensive history, beginning with the temperance of the tobacco leaf and the physical labor involved in producing marketable tobacco, and ending with the struggles the tobacco industry now faces with public health groups and government regulations. Kluger's narrative style makes this thick, fact packed book easy to read. Rich in history, critical, and thought provoking, Ashes to Ashes is a worthwhile read.

Long, but good.......2002-07-03

I'm not a smoker (fortunately my parents totally discouraged me from it, and I had enough smarts to avoid it anyway) but I found this history of the cigarette industry to be quite interesting--especially the facts about the early years.

It got a little dry towards the end, and the whole indictment of the industry has gotten a bit repetitious; I suspect at the time the book was published the message was new, but the message has gotten old fast. (Yes, it's clear that they knew about the health issues, and yes, they did very little about it.)

Overall it's a good read, especially the first half. If you're at all curious about how the cigarette industry came to be, the book does a great job of describing the companies and personalities involved.

Y'all said it: good but loooooong.......2001-09-28

Kluger's research is impressively thorough, his writing is lucid, and his insights -- well, insightful. But his inability to leave any detail unexamined makes this more of a resource book than a narrative. Slogging through to the end, became a chore. I mean, there ARE a few other books I'd like to get to before I die . . .

Average customer rating:

note from J. Franzen, one of the blurbists above
For serious students of the tobacco industry

The Cigarette Papers

Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520213726

Book Description

Around-the-clock tobacco talks, multibillion-dollar lawsuits against the major cigarette companies, and legislative wrangling over how much to tax a pack of cigarettes--these are some of the most recent episodes in the war against the tobacco companies. The Cigarette Papers shows what started it all: revelations that tobacco companies had long known the grave dangers of smoking, and did nothing about it.
In May 1994 a box containing 4,000 pages of internal tobacco industry documents arrived at the office of Professor Stanton Glantz at the University of California, San Francisco. The anonymous source of these "cigarette papers" was identified only as "Mr. Butts." These documents provide a shocking inside account of the activities of one tobacco company, Brown & Williamson, over more than thirty years. Quoting extensively from the documents themselves and analyzing what they reveal, The Cigarette Papers shows what the tobacco companies have known and galvanizes us to take action.

Customer Reviews:

note from J. Franzen, one of the blurbists above.......2003-07-07

In the actual text, the word "shocking" was in scare quotes and meant exactly the opposite of what it seems to mean here.

For serious students of the tobacco industry.......1998-09-23

This is worth a selective read if are a serious student of the cigarette industry and how it knew early about nicotine's additive and harmful effects. It provides a good insight into the thinking and industry-wide processes. Since it quotes extensively from actual corporate memos (that were given to the Univ of California by an unknown donor) it can be dry reading at times. The authors have organized the raw material well. While this is an important book, and revealing of a rich and powerful industry, it is more useful as a reference. A more readable book on the tobacco industry is Ashes to Ashes by Richard Kluger.

The People Vs. Big Tobacco: How the States Took on the Cigarette Giants

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Unidimensional tripe

The People Vs. Big Tobacco: How the States Took on the Cigarette Giants
Carrick Mollenkamp , Joseph Karl Menn , Adam Levy , and Joseph Menn
Manufacturer: Bloomberg Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1576600572

Amazon.com

After nimbly sidestepping any and all lawsuits for more than four decades, the tobacco industry received what could prove to be a mortal blow when Merrell Williams, a Louisville paralegal, stole thousands of pages of confidential documents from the law firm where he worked and handed them over to Michael Moore, the attorney general of Mississippi. These confidential documents proved that the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, a client of the firm, knew the dangers associated with smoking cigarettes, and that they had lied repeatedly to the public about the risks. Once these documents were released via the Internet and numerous anonymous mailings, the blood was in the water. A coalition of 65 top American trial lawyers attacked the tobacco industry from one side, while Moore and 39 other states' attorneys general pounced from the other, eventually resulting in a $368 billion settlement--the largest in American history. The People Vs. Big Tobacco: How the States Took on the Cigarette Giants is a blow-by-blow account of how the "Mother of All Lawsuits" was eventually settled, who the major players were, and what the settlement actually means for the future of Big Tobacco. The lawsuit settlement has since been railed by many health organizations and policymakers as a sellout, but there is no doubt that the tobacco industry has been permanently altered. Though more big-league legal wrangling is sure to come, The People Vs. Big Tobacco is an excellent analysis of the battle as it currently stands.

Book Description

Memphis, Tennessee, 1993. Attorney Michael Lewis looks into the emaciated face of his friend, a lifelong smoker dying of cancer, and resolves that something has to change -- Big Tobacco must be held accountable for the human and financial wreckage their products leave behind.

Four years later, Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore stands at his microphone in the ballroom of the ANA Hotel in Washington, DC, and announces to the nation that Big Tobacco has just conceded the most gigantic legal settlement in the history of the world -- $368.5 billion. As Moore outlines the points of the plan, it is clear that America's relationship with tobacco is about to be transformed forever. Sweeping changes in the regulation and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are about to take place; the companies will pay heavily for their lies, denials, and evasions. Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man will never again woo another teenager...

For the first time, the facts behind the scorching of Big Tobacco are woven into a single investigative narrative. Written in the fast-paced, riveting style of A Civil Action by a reporting team positioned -- from the beginning -- inside the frame with key players from all sides of the legal battleground, The People vs. Big Tobacco lets readers become insiders themselves in one of the most amazing social and financial dramas of our century.

Customer Reviews:

Unidimensional tripe.......1998-07-02

A patchwork quilt of Bloomberg dispatches, slightly less biased than USAToday's coverage of the situation. Examine the heavy predominance of trial attorney and AG sources in the "Notes" section, compare the lack of industry source material (aside from public pronouncements). Nearly 20% of the book is a simple re-print of the settlement agreement itself.

Tobacco in History and Culture: An Encyclopedia Edition 1. (Scribner Turning Points Library)

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Tobacco in History and Culture: An Encyclopedia Edition 1. (Scribner Turning Points Library)
Jordan, Ed. Goodman
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684314053

Book Description

Tobacco in History and Culture explores how tobacco became one of the most important commodities in the history of world trade and the source of one of the biggest public health concerns in modern history. Originally used by Native Americans for medicinal, religious and social purposes, tobacco quickly became the biggest export from the American colonies. By the mid-1990s, more than 14 billion pounds of tobacco leaf were grown worldwide each year, with international treaties governing its advertising and distribution. It has affected agriculture, religion, social customs, business and trade, government policy and medicine in many countries. The unique and innovative reference work presents entries on all aspects of tobacco and from a global perspective, providing support for assignments at many levels and in a variety of fields, including history, economics, government and health.

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Praise for Smoke in Their Eyes

"With the passion and talent that are his trademark, Mike Pertschuk tells the story of the tobacco wars from inside the crusaders' bunker—how they came remarkably close to victory but why big tobacco won in the end. Read it and weep, but don't just weep. Learn the critical lessons for movement leadership in the future, so improbable victories will happen."—Robert B. Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Professor of Social and Economic Policy, Brandeis University

"Nobody has a broader or clearer understanding of the worldwide anti-tobacco movement than Michael Pertschuk. His inside analysis of how its brightest hour suddenly turned into its darkest moment is an urgent object lesson, teaching that even those firmly on the side of the angels can be consumed by righteousness and self-importance. The U.S. public health community's failure to seriously blunt the perils of smoking—the nation's most destructive drug—when it had the tobacco industry reeling is a national tragedy that needed to be chronicled."—Richard Kluger, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ashes to Ashes

"A wonderful resource for readers who want to understand the complicated mix of high and low politics that animates progressive, `movement' interest group activity in the United States. Smoke in Their Eyes is his best yet, a treasure trove of insight, and, as always, a compelling read."—Nelson Polsby, Heller Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley

"Certainly the best-written piece of nonfiction in its genre I have ever read. Pertschuk has a gift for taking what could be just another `Washington insider' story and transforming it into the true overarching moral/political/human drama it actually is. I read it through, transfixed, because so much of it is so relevant to my own experiences of forty years in the environmental wars."—Brock Evans, Executive Director, The Endangered Species Coalition

"Pertschuk brings great wisdom and keen insight to this sobering tale that should appeal to all those committed to political change and to instructors looking for ways to teach students about the complexity of turning ideals into policy.—Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Harvard University

"When the definitive history of the tobacco control movement is written, this era, this series of events, will constitute one of the central chapters. This book is essential, indeed riveting, reading. Written by one of the most thoughtful observers of the tobacco control scene, himself a major figure in its history, the book offers a trenchant insider's view of what transpired during those fateful months. Anyone interested in social movements more generally will find herein a vivid lesson, a textbook if you will, of the threats to a movement as it gains steam and resources. This is an important story. It is exceedingly well told."—Kenneth E. Warner, Richard D. Remington Collegiate Professor of Public Health, University of Michigan

"Smoke in Their Eyes is that rare combination: a great read yet also packed with insights for anyone interested in the politics of public interest advocacy or legislation or multi-party negotiation or leadership."—Philip B. Heymann, James Barr Ames Professor of Law, Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government

"As a case study for popular consumption and for college and university courses, this is as good as it gets—as good as Jonathan Harr's A Civil Action, and for the same reasons."—William K. Muir Jr. , Professor Emeritus of Political Science, UC Berkeley

"Mike Pertschuk is above all a master teacher. He brings an enormous depth of wisdom and experience to this beautifully written volume, and draws conclusions that we must all heed."—Michael Daube, CEO, Western Australian Cancer Society, and Chair, Tobacco Control Program, International Union Against Cancer (UICC)

Customer Reviews:

Learning for the Future.......2002-02-05

Michael Pertschuk's book is a must-read for anyone who is working to accomplish significant social change in America, particularly on issues where there is a powerful, monied opposition. He gives us critical insights into how a progressive movement can hurt itself by unneccessary personal attacks and ideological rigidity. He also teaches us how a progressive movement can overcome these obstacles and become a powerful unified force for good in our society. Over the years, I have seen the kind of internicine warfare so artfully described by Mr. Pertschuk undermine efforts to reduce gun violence and health care expansion. I hope that his book will help all of learn how to work together to achieve our common goals.

Divided We Fall.......2002-02-01

Reviewer: Morton Mintz from Chevy Chase, MD United States. This is a riveting insider's account of an awesome snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory. The anti-tobacco movement had for decades soight legislation that would prevent the premature deaths of millions of Americans. On the brink of success--the McCain bill--the movement blew it. Michael Pertschuk's book--thoroughly researched, eloquently written, and scrupuously fair--tells how and why. It powerfully warns all humanitarian causes seeking legislation in a corrupted Washington: You can't get it all. Understand that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Embrace an imperfect compromise that takes giant strides in the right direction. And beware egomaniacal leaders: they can become best friends of your enemies.

Taking part in history..........2002-01-28

Mike Pertschuk's new book provides tremendously important lessons to all of us working on social justice issues. His story makes you wonder what could have been possible in the tobacco wars if people on the side of the angels worked together, strategized together, honestly communicated with one another, and avoided personal attacks.

As one who actively fought with many tobacco prevention activists to kill the settlement and "improve" the McCain bill, even I found value in reading the tale from the perspective of Matt Myers.

Mike's book in no way changed my mind about the final outcome (i.e,, I think the settlement deal flopping was a good thing for the movement. And while I feel bad that the McCain bill died, I remain skeptical that the industry would have allowed it to pass even with some liability relief). That said, there are lessons to be learned.

Smoke in Their Eyes did make me wonder about what could have been possible had movement leaders developed strong, trusting relationships with each other, and if they communicated actively, openly, and honestly. The lack of communication between both leadership camps was most telling, in my opinion.

Besides its critical lessons, SMOKE IN THEIR EYES is a wonderful, gripping, story that makes you feel like you are right in the middle of the biggest national anti-tobacco battle in US history.

The lessons we learn depends on the questions we ask.......2002-01-28

"Lessons in Movement Leadership from the Tobacco Wars," is the telling subtitle to this deeply-searching book that examines the history of the 1997-1998 round-robin negotiations between the US tobacco companies, litigation lawyers, anti-tobacco advocates, the Clinton administration, and Congress. The matter finally came down to two votes against passage of Senator McCain's comprehensive tobacco control bill, which would have provided the greatest concessions to public health ever imagined, or indeed now imaginable. These included federally mandated regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration, a stiff increase in the price of cigarettes (the most potent measure to reduce the prevalence of smoking), severe strictures on advertising, penalties against the industry if teen-age smoking rates didn't fall, a national program for smokers who want to quit, among other provisions. The eventual settlement between the US Attorneys-General and the industry is a pale reflection of what could have been.

All advocacy and citizen movements have their "radical" and "moderate" wings. The rejectionists of the anti-tobacco movement refused to support the McCain bill in the end because
it provided the tobacco industry with a (large) annual cap on how much they would have to pay out in law suits each year, assuming they lost such suits. There were those movement leaders
who refused any concession that smelled at all of immunity for an industry whose products kill over 400,000 Americans each year, and castigated the moderates for even sitting down with the
industry to discuss a settlement. The failure of the McCain bill was also a set back to the nascent tobacco control movements in other countries, "because we are not able to stop tobacco aggression without success in the United States," as one Polish activist observed.

The author, former head of the Federal Trade Commission, founder of the Advocacy Institute, and long-time anti-tobacco activist, richly analyzes what went wrong with a primer on "Thirteen
Ways to Lead a Movement Backward," whose obvious inverse is how to lead a movement to victory. A successful movement strategically and knowingly blends vision and pragmatism,
engages in a "good cop-bad cop" approach to negotiations. The failed movement breaks out into factional war. The anti-tobacco movement yet to recover.

The other key lesson, is that all the principals but the rejectionists were willing to reconsider their roles in the debacle, to search deeply into their actions and motives, and to examine how they might have behaved differently. Pertschuk gives his own mea culpa. Even Ralph Nader learned something new. When the next opportunity comes, as it surely will, I would want these reflective persons to be out in front again.

History Rewritten While You Wait.......2002-01-23

In this book, Pertschuk attempts to rewrite history with
himself as a hero. He also demonstrates how little he
has learned from that history. The two may be related.

Fortunately, the history is well documented; we are
not dependent on unreliable accounts of it. The key
fact is: the tobacco industry killed the McCain bill
as soon as it started to get tough on tobacco and
good for the public. 3 out of 4 members of the Congress that
killed the bill, had taken money from the tobacco industry.
So it wasn't too hard for the industry to kill a bill it
didn't like.

Pertschuk's rewrite would have us believe that victory
for public health was almost within our grasp. The
key fact is, the industry had a veto at all times,
which it didn't hesitate to use. In this battle
there was no danger at any time of public health
prevailing over industry profits. No historic
opportunity was missed; the opportunity never existed.
Not with this Congress.

On the contrary: if anything was narrowly missed,
it was a federal bailout of Big Tobacco. This
same Congress that killed a bill that was getting
too good for the public, also had the power to give
the tobacco industry a get-out-of-jail-free card:
legal immunity, special rights in court. That
was what the industry wanted, because it would
keep it safe and profitable.

This was no hypothetical danger: various forms of
immunity appeared in the McCain bill at different times.
Indeed it was without immunity in the bill that
the industry turned against the bill and killed it.
So what was missed, if anything, was a legal device
to keep Big Tobacco profitable and powerful into
the next century.

This history forms a pattern: the tobacco industry
has many times, in many states and localities, tried
to enter into closed-door, private negotiations.
The history of such closed-door deals also forms a
pattern: they turn out to protect industry profits
and do little to protect public health. Secret
negotiations with tobacco industry lawyers have
a long, sad, history: they don't tend to produce
results notably in the public interest.

It is sad that Pertschuk has not learned from
this history. It is even sadder that he attempts
to rewrite a recent instance of it. But perhaps
this is not a coincidence. Perhaps it would indeed
be difficult to write "I later realized that
I was mistaken in my approach, and that the
predictions that I differed with at the time,
were proven correct by the plain facts of history."

Book Description

Evaluates the progress and implementation of the Arkansas tobacco settlement program.

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Short and sweet...
Where's Dr. Koop when we need him?

Smoked (The Read & Resist Series)
Males
Manufacturer: COMMON COURAGE PRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1567511724

Customer Reviews:

Short and sweet..........2002-02-27

What I found most interesting about this paper (calling it a book is an exaggeration) is that it focuses its lucid and rabid attacks where they belong: on the hopelessly flaccid anti-smoking lobby and not the tobacco industry itself. If anything, Males's charts, graphs, and refreshing commentary gave me a grudging respect for the industry's ability to use bribery, politics, and moral outrage to make everyone fall into step.

In the end, though, Smoked didn't change my ambivalent feelings toward tobacco. Partly this was because Males's uncharacteristically general discussion of the financial `cost' of smoking contributed to my suspicion that it's a myth. I was left wondering if increased healthcare costs are more than offset by the early deaths of users, the fact that tobacco is the most heavily taxed consumer product in the world, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs the industry creates. Of course there are the incalculable human costs, but hey, lots of things are bad for you.

The anger you take away from these pages will more likely be aimed at the anti-smoking lobby, which has missed every opportunity to actually reduce tobacco use and in many ways have allowed themselves to be manipulated into promoting it. Tobacco is not a public health issue in the U.S., it's a political issue. And as such, it will always be with us.

Where's Dr. Koop when we need him?.......2000-05-25

Whatever happened to the smoke-free society we were supposed to have by 2000? The author's thesis (which he convincingly backs up with facts and figures) is that we've been bamboozled by the tobacco industry. Instead of the sensible campaigns (led by Everett Koop, for example) to make smoking (by anybody!) socially inappropriate, which actually did bring smoking down, the tobacco folks are now concentrating on a campaign to criminalize teenage smoking..... this gets adult smokers off the hook and has actually increased teenage smoking by making it an "adult" thing to do! No wonder Philip Morris sponsors all those anti-teen-smoking ads: they've actually increased smoking more than the old cigarette ads did! Should be required reading for members of Congress (though I'm not optimistic that it will have much impact, alas).

Tobacco Control Policy: Strategies, Successes, and Setbacks

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Tobacco Control Policy: Strategies, Successes, and Setbacks

Manufacturer: World Bank Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0821354027

Book Description

This is inspiring reading for policy makers seeking to implement the provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in their countries.--Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization

Currently, there are over 1.2 billion tobacco users in the world, most in developing countries. Once a problem primarily in high-income countries, disease and death from tobacco use has increasingly become a burden for developing countries as well. The tobacco epidemic is one of the leading causes of preventable death and disability in the world today. However, mitigating the devastating health damage caused by tobacco use is made especially difficult by nicotine's powerfully addictive properties, low prices of tobacco products, and the constant, often subtle reinforcement of social norms and encouragement to smoke through billions of dollars of advertising each year.

This book contains the stories of six countries - Brazil, Bangladesh, Canada, Poland, South Africa, and Thailand. These countries, selected to provide global geographical representation, are in different stages of the tobacco epidemic and the strength and history of their tobacco control policies vary considerably. Each has achieved notable success in tobacco control policy-making, basing advocacy and policies on sound research and evidence.

Tobacco Control Policy relates the strategies, success stories and setbacks in developing tobacco control policies in order to assist people grappling with similar issues in other countries. This book provides a collection of experiences in diverse economic, social and political situations which demonstrate the varied and important roles played by activists, health practitioners, policymakers, researchers, NGOs, politicians, and the press.

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