The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America

摘要

In the 20th century, 100 million people died from tobacco-related deaths, and it is projected that 1 billion people will die from the same cause in the 21st century. The percentage of smokers in the United States has fallen to 20%, yet the number of smokers worldwide has increased to pandemic proportions. Tobacco companies have become the darlings of Wall Street. Warren Buffett, the legendary investor said it best: "I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It cost a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive, and there is fantastic brand loyalty." Allan M. Brandt, a well known professor of history of medicine at Harvard Medical School, chronicled cigarette smoking from its modest beginnings at the start of the 20th century to the scientific discoveries that smoking was deadly, to the final legal battles that resulted in the "master settlement agreement" of 1998,rnthat brought an uneasy peace between the government and Big Tobacco, as Big Tobacco agreed to pay $206 billion dollars over 25 years.