The Real Thing: Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company - Tapa blanda

"Tells the 130-year history of Coca-Cola with flair and gusto.... The Real Thing is also a primer on the perils that come with decades of seemingly limitless growth."
-The Washington Post Book World

"[A] gripping account . . . [Hays] has a novelist's flair for conveying her characters' thoughts. . . . She recounts Coca-Cola history and lore in fascinating detail."
-The New York Times

"Fascinating and revealing . . . This extremely well researched, surprisingly entertaining saga is told almost like a novel with a broad panorama and [a] memorable cast."
-The Miami Herald

"Totally engaging . . . highly enjoyable . . . a compelling, well-documented history of the drink that has refreshed the world for 118 years."
-The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Before the Golden Arches, red-and-white Coca-Cola signs were the most ubiquitous symbols of American consumerism on the planet. Constance Hays tells the story of how Coke got its ?zz--and then almost lost it--in sparkling prose that's both sweet and tart, just like the pop."
--Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind

"The Real Thing brings the story of one of America's oldest commercial and cultural icons up to date--a tale of power, ego, and money inside one of the world's largest companies. With a journalist's investigative skills and a strong narrative voice, Constance Hays puts the reader inside the minds of Coca-Cola's top executives and fanatic consumers, showing how the modern, ever-changing global business world works through the simplest of products. Thoroughly researched and compellingly written, taking you through incredible triumphs and massive blunders, The Real Thing is a fascinating read."
--Joël Glenn Brenner, author of The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey & Mars

"[Hays] ably makes the point that there's no comparison for the emotional connection that people in America and around the world have with a Coke....She also recounts with a proper sense of tragedy the sad blunders of the last few years that have practically unmade the company....Gripping material, dramatically told."
--Kirkus Reviews

A history of the Coca-Cola brand traces its creation after the Civil War through its rise to a dominating force in the worldwide soft-drink business and describes the ambition, technologies, and marketing endeavors that contributed to its growth. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.