"Why are Americans a nation of coffee rather than tea drinkers? In this meticulously researched account, Michelle Craig McDonald tells the much neglected story of the early history of coffee before the rise of the great producers in Central and South America. Coffee Nation extends Atlantic history beyond the American Revolutionary War. It is a major contribution to the history of commodities and to the economic history of the United States." (Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, author of The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire) "Using a compelling array of material, archival, and quantitative evidence, Coffee Nation traces the important, but until now untold, history of the coffee trade in early America. In an accessible, often witty narrative, Michelle Craig McDonald deftly traces the history of the production, distribution, and consumption of this popular, profitable commodity that Americans decided early on they could not live withouteven if they had to depend on other nations to get it. Coffee Nation will be a must-read in commodities history." (Zara Anishanslin, author of Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World) "Based on a remarkable grasp of archival and printed materials, and written with engaging verve, Coffee Nation explains how coffee became an inescapable feature of North American private and social life by the years of the early republic. But it also provides a fuller understanding of the emergence of North American identity. Coffee Nation is an invaluable addition to our understanding of the rise of global commodities and, more broadly, is an example of cultural history at its very best." (James Walvin, author of A World Transformed: Slavery in the Americas and the Origins of Global Power)
