The Cigarette

The story of tobacco’s fortunes seems simple: science triumphed over addiction and profit. Yet the reality is more complicated—and more political. Historically it was not just bad habits but also the state that lifted the tobacco industry. What brought about change was not medical advice but organized pressure: a movement for nonsmoker’s rights.

From agriculture to big business, from medicine to politics, The Cigarette Century is the definitive account of how smoking came to be so deeply implicated in our culture, science, policy, and law. No product has been so heavily promoted or has become so deeply entrenched in American consciousness. The Cigarette Century shows in striking detail how one ephemeral (and largely useless) product came to play such a dominant role in so many aspects of our lives—and deaths.

From A is for Aardvark—“We’re not allowed to tell you anything about Winston cigarettes, so here’s a stuffed aardvark”—to Z is for Zippo, the iconic American lighter, The Cigarette Book is the ultimate souvenir and celebration of the dying art of smoking. Encyclopedic in both layout and range, this is an ideal consolation gift for those who have stopped, an ideal aide de memoire for those who might, and a defiant puff of libertarian brilliance for those who won’t. Celebrate the Hollywood age of smoking when film stars lit up with glamorous abandon. Witty, illustrated, collectible, and up-to-date. "… All smokers know that cigarettes are dangerous. Each one is a dance with death—and the defiant smoker will say that therein lies its charm. So each puff is an existential gesture, an assertion of choice and life in the face of death." One day the last cigarette on earth will be smoked. One final puff will be sent heaven-bound, leaving a lingering, evanescent smoke ring. And the wise of this world will rejoice. Because logic demands that mankind is rid of this pernicious poison. And wasn’t that well-known logician Adolf Hitler the most virulent opponent of cigarette smoking in the last century? Until then, read this book.

These documents provide a shocking inside account of the activities of one tobacco company, Brown & Williamson, and its multinational parent, British American Tobacco, over more than thirty years.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

The cigarette is the deadliest artifact in the history of human civilization. It is also one of the most beguiling, thanks to more than a century of manipulation at the hands of tobacco industry chemists. In Golden Holocaust, Robert N. Proctor draws on reams of formerly-secret industry documents to explore how the cigarette came to be the most widely-used drug on the planet, with six trillion sticks sold per year. He paints a harrowing picture of tobacco manufacturers conspiring to block the recognition of tobacco-cancer hazards, even as they ensnare legions of scientists and politicians in a web of denial. Proctor tells heretofore untold stories of fraud and subterfuge, and he makes the strongest case to date for a simple yet ambitious remedy: a ban on the manufacture and sale of cigarettes.

Savour the familiar scent of clove and tobacco … for this is the aroma of Indonesia’s history. Soeraja is dying. On his deathbed he calls for Jeng Yah, a woman who is not his wife. His three sons, Lebas, Karim and Tegar – heirs to Kretek Djagad Raja, Indonesia’s largest clove cigarette empire – are shocked, and their mother is consumed by jealousy. So begins the brothers’ search into the deepest recesses of Java for Jeng Yah, to fulfil their father’s dying wish and to learn the truth about the family business and its secrets. Cigarette Girl is more than just a love story and the soul-searching journey of three brothers. Set on the island of Java the story follows the evolution of a family’s kretek, or clove cigarette, business from its birth in the Dutch East Indies of the early 1940s, and it takes readers through three generations of Indonesian history, from the Dutch colonial era to the Japanese occupation, the struggle for independence and the bloody coup of 1965 in which half a million Indonesians were hunted down and killed. Rich in detail, with characters who struggle to right the wrongs of past generations, their relationships torn apart by the viciousness of revolution and politics, Cigarette Girl introduces readers to the history of Indonesia through clove cigarettes and unrequited love.

A consolation for those who've given up, an aide de memoire for those who might and a defiant puff of libertarianism for those who won't, this is an A to Z souvenir and celebration of the dying art of smoking. It offers tongue-in-cheek social commentary on smoking and public attitudes toward the habit.