Coke, wrote the future Pulitzer prize winner William Allen White, is “a sublimated essence of all that America stands for, a decent thing honestly made, universally distributed, conscientiously improved with the years.”

Coca-cola has aroused strong feelings throughout its history. At one point, French communists attempted to kidnap the daughter of Coke’s manager in France as a bargaining tactic – the manager in Vienna was dragged from his car and beaten.  It has waged countless regulatory and legal battles, some justified and some not. Despite being named for cocaine and the kola nut, both ingredients were removed almost immediately. It invented the modern Santa, and remains closely linked to the American dream.

Its history is also closely bound with that of a single man: Robert Woodruff, who played a key role in its development for sixty years. The son of a corporate raider who acquired the firm, he had no experience in the industry when he was appointed leader, but he would leave an indelible mark on the firm. In many ways, its story is not of a product but of a brand. It is marketing, not the product itself, that has forged Coke’s reputation.

Allen explores its history in depth, from family feuds over ownership to the war with Pepsi. It’s an interesting story, and Allen’s dry asides help make it compelling. It can also be painful; the bungling and total misunderstanding of what they were selling to consumers – a brand, not a taste – that led to New Coke are excruciating.

The book is interesting and enlightening, in many ways reflecting the history of the USA itself as Coke responded to wars, social trends, and changes in government. Allen is unabashedly pro Coke, but gives plenty of time to its failures, too. A bit oddly, though, the story ends in 2000. Perhaps that was all the access he could get given Coke’s desire for secrecy, but it makes it feel a bit truncated. Still, an interesting story of an American institution, one of the best known brands in the world, and a marketing triumph. I learned a lot reading it.

Disclosure: I read Secret Formula as an advance reader copy. You can see more reviews and order it when it is released Oct. 27th here: Secret Formula.