Coffee: A Dark History

by Antony Wild

Over thirty thousand copies sold worldwide, translated into Japanese, Chinese, Turkish and French. This foreword to this new 2013 eBook edition gives the full background to Wild's inadvertent creation of the kopi luwak industry in 1991, his involvement in the BBC undercover investigation into the trade, and the "Kopi Cut the Crap!" he has founded to get it banned.“...with a dry wit and an admirable muckraking spirit, Wild more than does justice to a story rife with injustices.” Newsday."He writes with (a) wry touch that makes his book a pleasure.” Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post"Antony Wild's "Coffee" is as rich and complex as the brew itself.” Carlo Wolff, Boston Globe“....this polemical, grandiose, yet thoroughly entertaining book...” Mother Jones“...Coffee is an elegantly written, even witty book, so wide in scope, so rich in detail, so thought-provoking in the subtle way that it develops its central thesis, that it is a challenge to do justice to it.” Joanna Blythman, The Sunday Herald“...full of fascinating anecdotal detail about our favourite stimulant.” The Ecologist“...a strong espresso of a thoroughly-researched, hugely informative history of the dark side of coffee...” Geographical“This masterful and exhaustive work is about much more than history. We’re also treated to eye-opening lessons in economics, ethics, culture and science...” Jennifer Cunningham, The HeraldArguably the most valuable legally traded commodity after oil, coffee's dark five-hundred-year history links alchemy and anthropology, poetry and politics, and science and slavery. Revolutions have been hatched in coffee houses, secret societies and commercial alliances formed, and politics and art endlessly debated.With over a hundred million people looking to it for their livelihood, the coffee industry is now the world's largest and the financial lifeblood of many third-world countries. But with world prices notoriously volatile, the future is always uncertain. In this thought-provoking exposé, Antony Wild, coffee trader, novelist and historian, explores coffee's dismal colonial past and its perilous corporate present, revealing the shocking exploitation as the heart of the industry.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Food, Food and Drink, Politics, Economics, Microhistory

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Tyler True · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coffee: A Dark History is a great feat of story-telling and of research. I will look for an opportunity to buy this book. Antony Wild thrillingly pursues the hard-to-isolate history of coffee rather than succumbing to “the number of myths that are ritually aired by the coffee trade to keep the curious at bay” (pg. 17).

Biology and chemistry, anthropology and linguistics, history and government, theology of all kinds and economics, painfully real or theoretical – these are but some of the fields traversed by the reader of what is really a non-fiction novel by the time it reaches its thesis. This is a thrilling work of philosophy by an author who writes objectively, not as a coffee expert who has read a little history or a biologist co-opting cultural data to the extent that it serves his argument, but as an informed and critical thinker tracking a profound idea that happens also to be a powerful drug and one of the world’s most important commodities. Despite the unorthodox resistance to citation and minor errors of logic and grammar, Coffee tells the history of this idea, this substance, through a series of breath-taking tales supported by the best evidence possible.

There are no controversial claims, to my way of thinking, throughout the entire work, but if there were, the omission of source citations would prove frustrating. By acknowledging this “largely stylistic” decision (pg. vii), Wild has set the tone of his “dark history,” and claimed authority over his information where, had he not acknowledged this choice, he might have weakened the foundation of the entire book instead.

Notwithstanding the authority he thus obtains, one could easily disagree with Wild’s thinking at any point because he writes not definitive proofs but passionate arguments. The most fascinating one to me is the connection of coffee to the evolution of humanity itself, viewed through the lens of their common location in the highlands of Ethiopia, but far more substantial than that one coincidence (pgs. 17-21). Another delightful argument drives the chemical makeup of caffeine right into the worlds of philosophy and then literature in the person of Goethe, and further illuminates a parallel with research on the effects of caffeine on spiders through his imagery – the spiders are both objects of research and literary devices (pgs. 205-206, 208). There is no end to the tales of how coffee, in its deliciously pure complexity, carries an indelible record of trade, power, diplomacy, corruption, enslavement, poverty, and hope. It is a record of earth itself, the varieties of ways it is prepared encodes human history, and our love for it, tantamount to a need, reveals what is universal about our way of life in spite of – or through – the specificity of coffee varieties.

Because of his command of vast amounts of tangible and intangible information, data and arguments from many perspectives, Wild is able to make the best possible argument at every turn. When anecdote provides the best evidence, that is what he uses, referencing the $350,000-yearly back-up exchange that allowed the New York Coffee, Sugar, & Cocoa Exchange to resume business immediately after being destroyed in the World Trade Center attacks to prove the significance of coffee as a commodity (pg. 8). He also uses the death of dismissed coffee plantation workers trying to enter the U.S. as evidence of coffee’s role in the devastation that has led to this social problem (pg. 237). In both cases, these examples bear more credibility and more potency than statistics or citations of experts might. When an analysis of a nation’s economy or of the practices of the World Bank or International Monetary Fund would be best, he uses those. When culture will speak for itself, he references, for example, the place in Dutch society of the novel "Max Havelaar" (pgs. 258-260). Even semantics, usually understood to mean the avoidance of a difficult question through technicalities of language, proves the clearest, most interesting way to teach the reader about the make-up and history of espresso: “a wonderful system for making good coffee, but not a good system for making wonderful coffee” (pg. 271). It is a memorable literary device, rather than some kind of trick, that expresses Wild’s point both profoundly and concisely. In short, Wild always has at his disposal the optimal way to make the essential point.

Only once, in his country-specific breakdown of the Western Hemisphere, do sweeping conclusions, elsewhere based on broad and vetted analysis of practically the whole world, become detached from the solid logic of the book overall. The section on Panama makes several statements about the U.S. treatment of that country which are probably true but not credible based only on what is written there. In addition and in stark contrast to the rest of the book, it says nothing about coffee except that coffee is grown there (pg. 245). Analysis of “the doleful consequences of U.S. hegemony” is complemented by location-specific names and information in the following pages, but no brilliant argument like what can be see elsewhere (pg. 234). There are many interesting insights into the fallacies of U.S. and Western policy regarding Central and South America, particularly the abuse of the Colombian environment, as revealed not by campaigners but through the coffee trade itself, but they should be fully expounded or not discussed at all rather than lightly mentioned. This seems to be a case of over-polishing because the writing here has sacrificed key substance in the interest of flow. That is, the substance seems to have been revised away.
A few nearly negligible problems do exist in the writing. One is the curious description of “land lying vacant” when “lying fallow” was clearly intended (pg. 248), and another is the illogical “ex-alumni” (pg. 238). “Status quo ante existing before the date of the reforms” is a bizarre error of editing (pg. 238); so is the duplication of “only” (pg. 173) and the missing preposition on pg. 152. A misplaced modifier on pg. 159 would cause confusion as to whether “the Exile” referred to a person or an event had it been placed in less clearly established context, but there is no reason not to employ proper grammar, even if the meaning might be apparent, anyway. Likewise, a missing comma also disrupts the flow: “The coffee houses of England could make no such claim to be the first secular public meeting places for taverns had been around for hundreds of years” (pg. 86).

"Coffee: A Dark History" provides a provocative yet satisfying account of coffee as almost everyone enjoys it: a drink we enjoy, something we all have in common, a many-faceted problem. Because the unassailable array of data, historical research, first-hand experiences, and cultural references in combination with expertise on the coffee plant and its products is not presented as a work of persuasion, it does not require the reader’s agreement in order to be appreciated as a work of literature. It is precisely this quality that makes the book so brilliantly persuasive.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, the best part was the beginning when Wild suggested that when the Bible talks about Adam and Eve eating something that made them more aware, able to open their eyes, making them think better and faster – it was referring to the coffee bean. I like this theory!

Then onwards to the history/science that concludes with the fact that coffee’s true beginnings are very, very murky with nothing concrete until the Sufi’s writings of the middle ages document them drinking this odd drink that meanttheycouldprayallnightandpraysomemoreinthemorningandthatmeansitmustbeholy!

Of course, once coffee becomes an established Thing, it sadly becomes entangled with the slave trade.

There is a LOT about Napoleon’s involvement with the coffee trade as well as his possible dealings with THE coffee during his Elba exile, so, um, yay if you like reading about Napoleon.

And, of course, the last section covers how currently coffee is wreaking political, social-economic, environmental havoc on our global market.

[Amanda Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative book, on the history of this common beverage. Contains chapters on the early Asian and African places where coffee plants were found to be growing, ending with the current Starbucks places.

[David Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure of his intentions; criticism of colonialism or anti slavery but this book had more off ramps than the interstate.
I really don’t care how many cups of coffee Napoleon drank in a day and worst that it took 3 pages to tell the tale.
I enjoyed the chapter on Vietnam and how coffee exploits the economy, ecology, and indigenous peoples.
Spoiler alert! The product of coffee always has depended on cheap labor and that has taken many forms: slavery, ruined economy and colonialism.

[Chris Bull · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too Weak

I gave up early in the book. The author just wandered about and I had difficulty seeing where he was going. There are many, many titles on trade and foodstuffs and this tries to cash in on the trend. He needs an editor.

[Norain · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was not that thick but halfway through it, I had to put it aside. I would not say the narration was bad. It just had the tendency to wander off to other things, so you got not only about coffee and its rival tea but also Napoleon, Sufism, goat and apple berries, Starbucks, capitalism in America, Monsanto… And oh yes, don’t forget St Helena.

But I did not abandon the book altogether, thanks to the experience of reading Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain which was not only long winded and had everything running and bumping into each other, but also very, very thick. Compared to Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain this was, well, novice.

The author’s main concerns in this book (in my slightly blighted opinion) were the high dependency of caffeine in the American community, and the spread of capitalism: highly caffeinated and badly tasting Robusta coffee bean instead of high quality Arabica bean and worse than that, the coming of even more caffeinated instant coffee… And even worse than all those were the curse the coffee brought to most of the countries in South America which grew and exported its beans. Kind of like the curse oil brought to countries like Iraq, Iran and Sudan – they owned the oil but they never got rich; somebody else did.

It was ironic that the reason I read this book was because I wanted to start drinking coffee. I loved the smell of roasted coffee beans and as I loved micro-history even more, I thought I might as well find out where this delightful drink came from. Turned out its past was not in any way delightful. I am really, really glad I read and finished this book.

[Geordan Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Antony Wild writes like a journalist instead of a historian. Many of his arguments are half-baked; he'll make claims with little follow up or some bare bones causation. For instance, the suggestion that certain Central American countries have less violence today because they killed fewer indigenes during the colonial period. He also makes arguments that sound like something from a college cafeteria. He'll reference different events as if you should know what they are and how exactly they support his argument without him taking you through the steps. His adoption of the island of St. Helena as a central place for his book is only loosely linked to coffee and was more of an excuse to use his old notes on the British East India Company.

All that being said, the last few chapters were very interesting. He talks about how the free market system, supported by the IMF, WTO, and World Bank have ruined coffee producing countries. The one argument I did find to be convincing was his argument that any "independent" research institutions looking into the health effects of coffee are actually funded by different transnational coffee companies. If I recommended it to someone, it would just be for a few select chapters.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter garbage. Written entirely to convey a political viewpoint which defies anyone who has studied economics. If you can read Chapter 1 without quitting, then you will hate any book I’ve ever reviewed positively. I was hoping for an informative read on the history of coffee and instead got a diatribe on how life is unfair.

[John Randall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a difficult read in that i did not find it interesting at all. The author went off in many tangents and tried, but failed, to tie them to coffee.

[Andy Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coffee: A Dark History by Antony Wild is an ambitious and engaging chronicle of coffee’s journey from its murky origins in Ethiopia to its entanglement with global trade, colonialism, and the modern world. Wild’s narrative is rich and interdisciplinary, weaving together biology, chemistry, anthropology, economics, and politics to reveal coffee’s profound impact on societies and economies across centuries. The book exposes the dark underside of coffee’s popularity, including its ties to slavery, exploitation of indigenous peoples, and the manipulations of imperial and corporate powers.

Wild’s storytelling is energetic and often quirky, making complex historical and scientific topics accessible, though the book sometimes loses focus as it darts between subjects. The lack of citations may frustrate those seeking rigorous sourcing, but Wild’s candid acknowledgment of this stylistic choice sets the tone for a work that is more a passionate argument than a definitive academic treatise. Notable highlights include the exploration of coffee’s role in human evolution and its symbolic presence in literature and philosophy.

Despite occasional digressions, Coffee: A Dark History is a thought-provoking and informative read, offering a sweeping perspective on how a simple beverage has shaped—and been shaped by—human history.

[Andrew Karnowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

insightful look at coffee history

A very enjoyable history of coffee. Some of the reviews before this book scared me the author might just talk about himself… I did not find this to be true. There is a bit too much conspiracy theory in the tail end for me… but skeptical googling didn’t disprove any of it. I think imagery and maps could help add to the visualizing of some of the locations and timelines of the book. I definitely have a new appreciation for types of coffees and as a result of reading have started to experiment with different brewing styles, as well as paying more attention to bean types and blends.

[Derrick Grose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hard cover edition of this book has a very attractive cover. This book makes the shocking revelation that the modern coffee market continues the exploitation that was established under colonial systems centuries ago. I think this is the point, but it is difficult to say as this book meanders from one speculation to the next with interesting trivia tangentially related to the topic of coffee. Read about St. Helena, Rimbaud, the history of Vietnam, the American Revolution and numerous other topics loosely woven into the fabric of a book that is ostensibly about coffee. It looks nice on the bookshelf.

[Marlise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads like a history textbook and I don’t like it that there are so many ‘facts’ without reference. But it’s enjoyable to read if you think about it from a higher vantage point. An overview of Coffee’s history and its parallels with Colonialism. As I got closer to the end I really got tired of the anti-corporate, anti-government, anti-everything, it seems, tangents. Th non-coffee related rabbit trails got a little exhausting. I like the idea around this book but I think someone else can do a better job of this topic.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about a beverage that, as far as can be ascertained, first appeared in the 16th Century. Combining world events with the development of a "coffee culture" the author points out the effects of colonialism, both imperial and corporate, on indigenous peoples and small farmers. In the latter part of the book the author notes the effects of major power foreign policies have had on both the coffee and drug trades.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

More history connected to coffee than coffee as the main subject...at least it seems that way for a bit. Good look at history though and still plenty of coffee.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about the connection of beverages with the predominant ruling culture. Technical at times and trivial. Overall worth the read! Learned a lot.

[HD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid informations. The shocking history revelation in this book is abundant (particularly related to the history of slave and coffee). Nice read.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book traveled the path of the history of coffee and along the way discussed several different time periods and countries. Ethiopia is considered the birthplace. As a world history teacher it gave me a lot of insight and different knowledge about Brazil, China, India, Vietnam, Africa and colonialism and slavery. While it has a few areas that was difficult to follow when talking about different compounds in tea/coffee it is in brief spurts and the rest is a good follow. I gave it 3 stars because it can seem to get off topic a little but overall a good book to learn from.

[Sam Cherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book at times loses a sense of direction, particularly in the first half, but if one is willing to work through these passages the overall result is a fine work with considerable historical reach, an interdisciplinary approach, and a powerful call-to-arms towards the end. The lack of any attempt at citation is however infuriating.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a fascinating book. The author has a very quirky sense of humor and a good writing style that I enjoyed. I had to read a number of passages aloud to friends and family as I went through. The author does need to calm down a bit though, as the first few chapters feel like he has imbibed a bit too much of this beverage and he is on a caffeinated romp zipping through this subject and that subject back and forth seemingly at random, sometimes even within the same paragraph.

I definitely learned a number of things about politics and the US, Napoleon and some facts about coffee as well. A good portion of the book is a history lesson about trade and diplomacy and a few tie-ins with coffee. It also puts the USA's meddling with other nation's governments and economies in a decidedly negative light, with the World Bank being the next target behind that. There are also very convincing arguments to be very selective about where you purchase your coffee from, and I am going to attempt to do so from now on.

This book is definitely a good read for anyone that is interested in history, fair trade, and coffee. It would be recommended to avoid if you do not want to read anything bad about the USA.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been thinking about reading a book about coffee when I saw Coffee: A Dark History at our local library, so I took a chance.

A Dark History sets out to explore the origin of the coffee plant, how and who started drinking coffee and it's spread through out the world to became one of the most important commodity. In addition, the author shows the devastating effect the coffee crop (and policies around coffee) has had on countries and people (African slave trade - North South issues) that provide our daily jolt of caffeine. Along the journey we meet historical figures such as Napoleon (yes that Napoleon...) and Poet Rimbaud.

Just a minor warning though, while it's a nice historical take on coffee, it reads like an academic research paper.

Now, onto Tea...any good recommendations for a historical book on Tea?

[Mr_wormwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, most memorable part was when the author makes a case for the coffee bean as an evolutionary catalyst, sort of how Terrence McKenna made the argument that the ancestors of Homo Erectus benefited psychologically and socially from ingesting psychedelic mushrooms, except its caffeine and not Psilocybin that initiates the great leap. It is an intriguing hypothesis backed up by the fact that fossils of some of mankind's oldest ancestors have been found in the same Ethiopian highlands where wild coffee trees first originated as well the proven heightening of the powers of cognition and expression that caffeine has on the human brain. So coffee, the drug that made us human? no wonder i barely feel human before my first cup of the day

[Leo Africanus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemingly written in a frenetic caffeine-fuelled state, the book contains far too many rambling tangents and a sprinkling of horrendous factual errors (especially when explaining Islamic terminology e.g. confusing the sunnah with the Quran).

However the first couple of chapters demand attention as they chart the Chinese inspired path of coffee under Arab and then Ottoman auspices to the gates of Vienna only for secular Turkey to dismiss its 400 year coffee drinking history in favour of tea.

Reading about the banning of coffee in Mecca in 1511 and the subsequent "redeployment" of the mufti responsible for the fatwa is worth it in itself.

[Darren · Rating 2 out of 5]

One's natural concerns are raised when the author starts the book by asking you not to question his facts and sources too much. For a history book that's a bit odd. The conclusions suffer from a lack of fact. In one occasion a point is made about dates where the author got Jim Morrison 's age at death completely wrong so I had to take this book as a work of fantasy. It also spends a lot of time discussing the history of St Helena which is what in fact I would guess the book started life as until the publishers pointed out that a book about St Helena is not going to sell as many books as a book about Coffee. A good editor could probably sort this book out.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed many parts of this book and appreciated the content. Advertised by the author as a "dark" history, it seemed lacking in cutting edge journalistic research. The early and late chapters dealing with the coffee crisis of recent decades and the globalization of consumption were more compelling than the slow slog through coffee's oceanic trade history, recounted without a great deal of narrative purpose. I would recommend a different historical overview to friends but would suggest some of this book's chapters.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 3.5 star book. There's a lot of interesting information here about coffee and the coffee trade.
The author does run off on mainly unrelated tangents occasionally and some of the history of the Coffee Traders, with all the names and dates and ship names, is quite dry and detailed but, on the whole, this is an interesting look at coffee history from ancient times to the present, including Fair Trade coffees.

[Kris McCracken · Rating 2 out of 5]

A popular history of coffee. It has its moments of appeal, but a little to ideologically driven for mine. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting (nor in the mood) for a post-colonial, neo-Marxist tirade, particularly one that picks and chooses its areas to expose quite so randomly. The lack of a narrative thread (let alone citations or list of resources) also made it a bit of a struggle to get through. Not recommended.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

NF
308 pages

Oh coffee, how I enjoy drinking you! Very interesting to know where you come from. I learnt a lot about the cultivation of coffee and the history it installed. What an eye opening account of coffees' history. Along with the trading and economics and science and cultures that co-inside with its' history, I learned about the civilizations that were a part of it. Coffe was very important in world trade for over 500 years and still is today.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does what it says it does. But in the midst of the coffee discussion, Wild goes off on long tangents about St. Helena and a variety of other topics. He looks longingly back at the 19th century world (an English one) and disparages global (American) capitalism. Of course, there is quite a lot to disparage...

[Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Excerpt from my review at my blog, The Itinerant Librarian:

"Coffee is one of my favorite topics. I enjoy the drink, and I like reading about the lore and history around it, so I thought this would be a good book on the topic. It was not to be."

Visit my blog to read the rest. Link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.co...