For God, country and Coca-Cola: the definitive history of the great American soft drink and the company that makes it

Preface

Prologue: a parable (January 1, 1985)

Part I: In the beginning (1886-1899). Time capsule : the golden age of quackery ; What Sigmund Freud, Pope Leo, and John Pemberton had in common ; The tangled chain of title ; Asa Candler : his triumphs and headaches ; Bottle it : the world's stupidest, smartest contract

Part II: Heretics and true believers (1900-1922). Success under siege ; Dr. Wiley Weighs in ; The sinister syndicate ; Coca-Cola's civil war

Part III: The golden age (1923-1949). Robert W. Woodruff : the boss takes the helm ; A euphoric depression and Pepsi's push ; The $4,000 bottle : Coca-Cola goes to war ; Coca-Cola über alles

Part IV: Trouble in the Promised Land (1950-1979). Coca-colonization and the communists ; Breaking the commandments ; Paul Austin's turbulent sixties ; Big Red's uneasy slumber

Part V: The Go-Go Goizueta era (1980-1997). Roberto Goizueta's bottom line ; The marketing blunder of the century ; The Big Red Machine ; Global fizz

Part VI: Quenching all thirsts (1997-2013). Ivester inherits a world of trouble ; Daft dilemmas ; Turnaround ; Surging ahead ; World without end?

Appendix 1: The sacred formula

Appendix 2: Coca-Cola magic : thirty business lessons

Note on sources

Acknowledgments

Index.