Cigarettes, Inc.: An Intimate History of Corporate Imperialism

by Nan Enstad

Traditional narratives of capitalist change often rely on the myth of the willful entrepreneur from the global North who transforms the economy and delivers modernity—for good or ill—to the rest of the world. With Cigarettes, Inc., Nan Enstad upends this story, revealing the myriad cross-cultural encounters that produced corporate life before World War II.

In this startling account of innovation and expansion, Enstad uncovers a corporate network rooted in Jim Crow segregation that stretched between the United States and China and beyond. Cigarettes, Inc. teems with a global cast—from Egyptian, American, and Chinese entrepreneurs to a multiracial set of farmers, merchants, factory workers, marketers, and even baseball players, jazz musicians, and sex workers. Through their stories, Cigarettes, Inc. accounts for the cigarette’s spectacular rise in popularity and in the process offers nothing less than a sweeping reinterpretation of corporate power itself.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2018

Reviews

[Ai Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just such a solid, interesting book. Enstad approaches corporate history with such deep care--she really pays attentions to the spaces that her actors inhabit, and just draws together this global history with such attention to detail without it being caught up wholly in those details. Her points are so solidly supported and she's so clear in what she's arguing that it's really deeply convincing without being repetitive. The chapter about jazz is something I could definitely see pulling out and using for teaching, and overall the book is just so well done and well written.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently, I think the history of cigarette companies is boring as hell :/


This is a very descriptive history, but the theory/bits on corporate imperialism were definitely lacking. Main idea: the corporation is made up of people who act in their own particular ways.