THE STORY OF TOBACCO IN AMERICA

A marshalling of all the facts- too many for popular enjoyment- in a comprehensive survey of the growth, manufacture and consumption of tobacco in America, its effect on American life, and the historical changes undergone. One follows the introduction of tobacco for commercial purposes by John Rolfe in the 17th century; its gradual spread from the three original tobacco states to a number of others; export and the problems that went with it; the effect of various wars; the influence of tobacco on the plantation system; formation of the American Tobacco Company, its subsidiaries, anti-competitive activities, and final dissolution as a result of trust-busting; anti-tobacco campaigns; the advent of the cigarette age and the large-scale advertising we know today. An agricultural and industrial biography, thorough in its denomination, dull in its presentation.