The Devil's Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee (Paperback)

by Stewart Lee Allen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Stewart Lee Allen is the Hunter S. Thompson of coffee, offering a wild, caffeinated, gonzo tour of the World of the Magic Bean. His wry, adventurous prose delights, astonishes, amuses, and informs."
--MARK PENDERGRAST
   Author of Uncommon Grounds:
   The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World -- Review

Review
"Stewart Lee Allen is the Hunter S. Thompson of coffee, offering a wild, caffeinated, gonzo tour of the World of the Magic Bean. His wry, adventurous prose delights, astonishes, amuses, and informs."
--MARK PENDERGRAST
   Author of Uncommon Grounds:
   The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345441494
• ISBN-13: 978-0345441492
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #195,695 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars part history of coffee, part crazy travelogue, November 15, 2004

By	Brenda Jo Mengeling (Davis, CA USA) - See all my reviews

In The Devil's Cup, Stewart Lee Allen decides to travel the world in search of the history of coffee. He travels on a budget that leads to many interesting scenarios, such as crossing the Atlantic on a cargo ship with a handful of other passengers, that have little to nothing to do with coffee. Much of his info on the history of coffee in Europe is a recitation (although amusingly told) of more staid histories of coffee. He spends most of his travels looking for either the best or worst cup of coffee. After I finished the book, I felt like I had read several good anecdotal stories and legends about the origins and history of coffee, and had also read a rather crazy, but interesting, travelogue that loosely related to the spread of coffee from Africa to the rest of the world. It was a fun read and worth reading, but I am still looking for a more focused and complete history of coffee.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Coffee-tastic Tale, June 21, 2006

By	Stephanie N. Medoff "Outside of a dog, a book... (Tucson, Arizona) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Devil's Cup is a very enjoyable book...

It's not just a history book. It's not just a travelog. It's not just an essay on the politics of the import and export of a consumer good. It's more than that, it's an adventure that follows the trail of that most wonderful beverage, coffee. Where did coffee originate from? How did it make it's way from country to country, from continent to continent? Who was responsible for the many moves that coffee has made? For the different ways that coffee is enjoyed? How do different cultures view this magnificent bean? What role did coffee play in the creation of civilization? Of the shaping of our globe as it is today? These are the sorts of answers you'll find within this book, but not presented to you in a bland history bookish sort of way... No, no, the answers lie within tales of travel and first hand accounts of experiences with the actual places involved...

And all of this comes with a ribald sense of humor, a fantastic sense of adventure and stories that will have you running off to grab a cup of Joe to enjoy this book with.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books, August 23, 2006

By	Bryan Bowden "a salmagundi of a man" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I came across this book by accident and bought it out of my sheer love for coffee. But the book not only has the great tale of how coffee came from Africa and made it's way all over the earth to the daily drink we know today, it also is a first rate travelogue. The author follows coffee's migration from Africa to Europe. Mr. Allen has quite a knack for finding and reporting his adventures and misadventures with a fun easy to read style.

If you like non-fiction travelogues, then do yourself a favor and buy this book.