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A Secret History of Brands
- The Dark and Twisted Beginnings of the Brand Names We Know and Love
- Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
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Publisher's summary
We live our lives immersed in name-brand products. It's hard to drive down the street without seeing a plethora of chain restaurants, car dealerships, branded clothing; they're all around us. What most of us don't know is that the origins of many of the most well-known and beloved brands in the world are shrouded in controversy, drug use, and sometimes even addled with blatant racism.
A Secret History of Brands cuts through the rumors and urban legends and paints a picture of the true dark history of famous brands, like Coca-Cola, Hugo Boss, Adidas, Ford, Bayer, Chanel, and BMW among others. Explore the mystery of the cocaine content of Coca-Cola, the Hitler-Henry Ford connection, and why Bayer is famous for aspirin but began their journey with heroin, and how Kellogg's Corn Flakes were crafted to deter sexual arousal. Thoroughly researched, MacNabb details firsthand conducted interviews alongside fairly weighed research to present the decisive view of brands histories that you haven't heard of yet.
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- Narrated by: Deborah Cadbury
- Length: 13 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4 out of 5 stars 103
With a cast of characters that wouldnt be out of place in a Victorian novel, Chocolate Wars tells the story of the great chocolatier dynasties, through the prism of the Cadburys. Chocolate was consumed unrefined and unprocessed as a rather bitter, fatty drink for the wealthy elite until the late 19th century, when the Swiss discovered a way to blend it with milk and unleashed a product that would conquer every market in the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The World of Chocolate
- By Jean on 11-05-14
By: Deborah Cadbury
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Tesla vs Edison
- A Captivating Guide to the War of the Currents and the Life of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison
- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 28
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Story4 out of 5 stars 28
Human history has seen many surprising and profound turning points. The ways that humans learned to use raw materials to create activity and resources set the stage for the most compelling and life-altering phase of the modern era, the Industrial Revolution. Born during this time on different continents but connected by similar interests, two men indelibly marked their generation and those that followed with their genius and foresight. This audiobook covers the war of currents and the individual lives of Tesla and Edison.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Arduous
- By Hasbro on 10-22-18
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Thinking Small
- The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagon Beetle
- By: Andrea Hiott
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Sometimes achieving big things requires the ability to think small. This simple concept was the driving force that propelled the Volkswagen Beetle to become an avatar of American-style freedom, a household brand, and a global icon. The VW Bug inspired the ad men of Madison Avenue, beguiled Woodstock Nation, and has recently been re-imagined for the hipster generation. And while today it is surely one of the most recognizable cars in the world, few of us know the compelling details of this car’s story.
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5 out of 5 stars
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book is a history lesson
- By Michael miller on 10-02-12
By: Andrea Hiott
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Hershey
- Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams
- By: Michael D'Antonio
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
In this compelling biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael D'Antonio gives us the real-life rags-to-riches story of Milton S. Hershey, a largely uneducated businessman whose idealistic sense of purpose created an immense financial empire, a town, and a legacy that lasts to this day.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The Benchmark for Chartiable, Rich Men
- By Boyd Tschaggeny on 01-30-19
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Whiskey Women
- The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey
- By: Fred Minnick
- Narrated by: James Killavey
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Without women, whiskey may not exist. In Whiskey Women, Wall Street Journal-best-selling author Fred Minnick tells the tales of women who have created this industry, from Mesopotamia's first beer brewers and distillers to America's rough-and-tough bootleggers during Prohibition. Women have long distilled, marketed, and owned spirits companies. These strong women built many iconic brands, including Bushmills, Laphroaig, and Maker's Mark.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Women should be proud of this.
- By Tracy on 01-29-16
By: Fred Minnick
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How to Be a Dictator
- An Irreverent Guide
- By: Mikal Hem, Kerri Pierce - translator
- Narrated by: Ramiz Monsef
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 164
Who hasn't dreamed of one day ruling your own country? Along with great power comes unlimited influence, control, admiration, and often wealth. How to Be a Dictator will teach you the tricks of the trade - how to rise to the top and stay in power, and how to enjoy the fruits of your excellence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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People are weird
- By Nik on 01-01-21
By: Mikal Hem, and others
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The Kelloggs
- The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek
- By: Howard Markel
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
John Harvey Kellogg was one of America's most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will, was the founder of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company. In The Kelloggs, Howard Markel tells the sweeping saga of these two extraordinary men, whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America's notion of health and wellness and who helped change the course of American medicine, nutrition, wellness, and diet.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good History, Best for Battle Creek Folks
- By ftmgal on 08-26-18
By: Howard Markel
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Bourbon Empire
- The Past and Future of America's Whiskey
- By: Reid Mitenbuler
- Narrated by: Brian O'Neill
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 534
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 482
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 481
Unraveling the many myths and misconceptions surrounding America's most iconic spirit, Bourbon Empire traces a history that spans frontier rebellion, Gilded Age corruption, and the magic of Madison Avenue. Whiskey has profoundly influenced America's political, economic, and cultural destiny, just as those same factors have inspired the evolution and unique flavor of the whiskey itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great whiskey history great American history
- By Larry G. on 06-16-15
By: Reid Mitenbuler
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India
- A Portrait
- By: Patrick French
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 77
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Story4 out of 5 stars 77
Second only to China in the magnitude of its economic miracle and second to none in its potential to shape the new century, India is fast undergoing one of the most momentous transformations the world has ever seen. In this dazzlingly panoramic book, Patrick French chronicles that epic change, telling human stories to explain a larger national narrative. Melding on-the-ground reports with a deep knowledge of history, French exposes the cultural foundations of India’s political, economic and social complexities.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Epic Book by Award-Winning Author
- By morton on 10-31-11
By: Patrick French
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Gallo Be Thy Name
- The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market
- By: Jerome Tuccille
- Narrated by: Grainger Hines
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
Gallo Be Thy Name is the portrait of an American dynasty that rose from poverty in the early 1900s to become the most successful wine company in the world through toil, cunning, and crime. From selling ³Dago Red² to Al Capone during Prohibition to conquering America¹s wine market, and from the Great Depression to the roiling farm labor movements of the 60s and 70s, the Gallos rode the turbulent currents of history to triumph, with iconic brothers Ernest and Julio steering the ship.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An informative read. Big bite of US history.
- By Robbie on 06-27-18
By: Jerome Tuccille
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Black Titan
- A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire
- By: Carol Jenkins
- Narrated by: Susan Spain
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 456
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 391
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Story5 out of 5 stars 391
A.G. Gaston, the poor grandson of slaves, was born in the Deep South in 1892. Over the course of his extraordinary life, he amassed a fortune of over $130 million and a vast business empire. The story of his remarkable life is written with eloquence and grace by his niece, an Emmy¿ Award-winning journalist and her daughter, who holds degrees from Yale and Harvard.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Black Gold = Standing Ovation
- By 2Fresh on 01-20-16
By: Carol Jenkins
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Ida M. Tarbell
- The Woman Who Challenged Big Business - and Won!
- By: Emily Arnold McCully
- Narrated by: Emily Arnold McCully
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Born in 1857 and raised in oil country, Ida M. Tarbell was one of the first investigative journalists and probably the most influential in her time. Her series of articles on the Standard Oil Trust, a complicated business empire run by John D. Rockefeller, revealed to readers the underhanded, even illegal practices that had led to Rockefeller's success.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent!
- By AKA1 on 03-16-19
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North Korea Confidential
- Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors
- By: Daniel Tudor, James Pearson
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
North Korea is one of the most troubled societies on earth. The country's 24 million people live under a violent dictatorship led by a single family, which relentlessly pursues the development of nuclear arms, which periodically incites risky military clashes with the larger, richer, liberal South, and which forces each and every person to play a role in the "theater state" even as it pays little more than lip service to the wellbeing of the overwhelming majority.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting portrait of North Korea marred by awful pronunciation
- By Amazon Customer on 08-03-21
By: Daniel Tudor, and others
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Korea
- The Impossible Country
- By: Daniel Tudor
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109
Long overshadowed by Japan and China, South Korea is a small country that happens to be one of the great national success stories of the postwar period. From a failed state with no democratic tradition, ruined and partitioned by war, and sapped by a half-century of colonial rule, South Korea transformed itself in just 50 years into an economic powerhouse and a democracy that serves as a model for other countries. With no natural resources and a tradition of authoritarian rule, Korea managed to accomplish a second Asian miracle.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book
- By Antoine on 12-14-18
By: Daniel Tudor
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The Italians
- By: John Hooper
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 138
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 123
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Story4 out of 5 stars 123
John Hooper's marvelously entertaining and perceptive new book is ideal for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Looking at the facts that lie behind and often belie the stereotypes, his revealing book sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism, and the reason Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger yet none for a hangover.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mi piace molto!
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-30-16
By: John Hooper
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Made in America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,494
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,235
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,234
In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail
- By John on 02-28-14
By: Bill Bryson
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Nazi Billionaires
- The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties
- By: David de Jong
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 157
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 157
A groundbreaking investigation of how the Nazis helped German tycoons make billions off the horrors of the Third Reich and World War II—and how America allowed them to get away with it.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good but flawed
- By I. M. Rightwriter on 07-11-23
By: David de Jong
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What listeners say about A Secret History of Brands
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Steve A.
- 01-31-22
Mostly a Deep historic dive into a few brand’s seedy past
A lot of history surrounding pre-world war 2 German companies and what they did during the war and their affiliation with the Nazi party. Then a few stories about US companies focusing on what can only be described as disturbed owners and their fringe views or deranged tendencies. I was hoping for less deep dive and more of the quirky interesting stories. Leading off with the history of Coca Cola was the best portion of the book.
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