"Citizen Coke demostrate[s] a complete lack of understanding about...the Coca-Cola system—past and present." —Ted Ryan, the Coca-Cola Company

By examining "the real thing" ingredient by ingredient, this brilliant history shows how Coke used a strategy of outsourcing and leveraged free public resources, market muscle, and lobbying power to build a global empire on the sale of sugary water. Coke became a giant in a world of abundance but is now embattled in a world of scarcity, its products straining global resources and fueling crises in public health.