Summer 2005 - This book was way more than I bargained for. My main interest was to learn about the pharmacological effects of caffeine, the most-used (legal) psycho-active substance on the planet. And yes, you will learn a lot about that from this book. You will also learn practically everything else about caffeine, from it's chemical composition, the history of coffee, tea and chocolate, and a host of other tidbits that would make you ready for "Caffeine for 500" on Jeopardy.

It's a long book. So you'll need to take advantage of some of the effects of caffeine to get through it. If you imbibe too much, not to worry - at least you'll understand what is happening to your body.

This book was helpful in dispelling some myths. I also found the mystic links of coffee (Sufi), tea (Buddhist) and cocao (Spanish Catholic monks) to be very interesting. Some of the case studies on the biological effects of caffeine are right out of my own experiences, and this book led me to experiment with total caffeine ceasation (not a good idea), and more extreme use (again, not a good idea). The section on the effects on children is a wakeup call for parents and child care workers.