Chocolate Wars

READ BY FINTY WILLIAMS. The delicious true story of the early chocolate pioneers by the award-winning writer, and direct descendant of the famous chocolate dynasty, Deborah Cadbury

In 'Chocolate Wars' bestselling historian and award-winning documentary maker Deborah Cadbury takes a journey into her own family history to uncover the rivalries that have driven 250 years of chocolate empire-building.

Beginning with an account of John Cadbury, who founded the first Cadbury's coffee and chocolate shop in Birmingham in 1824, 'Chocolate Wars' goes on to chart the astonishing transformation of the company's fortunes under his grandson George. But while the Cadbury dynasty is the fulcrum of the narrative, this is also the story of their Quaker rivals, the Frys and Rowntrees, and their European competitors, the Nestles, Suchards and Lindts. These rivalries drove the formation of the huge chocolate conglomorates that still straddle the corporate world today, and have first call on our collective sweet tooth.

This is narrative history at its most absorbing, peopled by wonderfully colourful characters - the true story of the chocolate pioneers, the visions and ideals that inspired them and the mouth-watering concoctions they created.

Reviews

‘A wonderful writer who keeps you turning the pages as if her book was a thriller’ The Times

‘Absolutely stupendous. This is history as it should be. It is stunningly written. I could not put it down’ Alison Weir

‘Beautifully structured and sympathetically narrated… successfully brings together science, suspense and sentiment. Something for everyone’ Miranda Seymour, Sunday Times

‘A stylish writer [who] describes the splendours and miseries of these wonders in their true colours and with understanding of the ethics and aspirations of their times’ New Scientist

‘Fascinating… heroes, villains and victims populate this gripping story’ Daily Telegraph

About the author

Deborah Cadbury is the highly acclaimed, bestselling author of several books, including ‘The Dinosaur Hunters’, ‘The Lost King of France’, and ‘Seven Wonders of the Industrial World’. She has also won numerous international awards as a TV producer for the BBC, including an Emmy for ‘Horizon’. She lives in London.