Smoking: An Intimate History

Looking for a book about quitting smoking? This isn’t it. Smoking has been with us a long time. From the native Americans, for whom smoking the sacred pipe was a way of communing with the ­spirits, to the early feminists for whom the “little white slaver” was ­ironically a sign of liberation, smoking has meant many things to many people. Whether it’s the early entrepreneurs who opened up world ­markets, titans of industry who helped create the modern corporation and revolutionized advertising, or the PR firms that aided the cigarette industry in its relentless efforts to prey on the public’s addiction, ­smoking has changed the world we live in. Written in short, lively chapters on the history of tobacco and smoking, interspersed with the author’s thoughts on life as a smoker, Smoking presents a picture of our relationship with the evil weed that no other book can give you. Written for the fan of history and memoir alike, Smoking will leave you wondering whether to love tobacco or hate it — or maybe a bit of both.