In this elegiac offering to the pinnacles of hand-rolled tobacco, world-renowned expert Nicholas Foulkes guides you through the myths, legends, nuances and delicious realities of the smoke-savouring universe, serving as an introduction for the novice and a reference for the connoisseur.

The Illustrated History of Cigars is better than any rival publication because it exceeds expectations, even for such a costly book. Oversized, like most coffee-table volumes, it contains excellent photography, lithography and brilliant captions. The translation is also top-notch, giving the main text a lively, engaging tone.The most futile and disastrous day seems well spent when it is reviewed through the blue, fragrant smoke of a Cigar." Evelyn Waugh Five hundred dollars per year, but with that you get a discount on our best cigars. And you get my personalized attention.’” The recommendations and history in the book are both first-rate, and the presentation adeptly avoids being overbearing. For example, the authors state that there is still some controversy about the geographic origin of the tobacco plant, citing both Mayan and ancient Chinese texts as proof. Wisely, they then sidestep a polemic by leaving the matter to historians and the reader's own discretion.

In fact, today’s best sources for information about the cigars themselves are found online. I mean, you’re using one of those as you read this. So, instead of recommending the three “best” cigar books that are the usual type of guides, allow me to offer a mix of educational, enlightening, and entertaining reading about our wonderful world of cigars. The Ultimate Cigar Book Willie Cuesta is a former cop turned private detective. Willie likes to go to the clubs late at night. The story takes you into Miami’s steamy nightlife through Willie’s eyes. Trouble begins when Willie is hired to find the son of a wealthy (or not so wealthy?) exiled Cuban cigar family. When Willie starts to ask the right questions about the wrong people, things get scary. And a little steamy. There are other things to quibble about in The Cigar Companion, such as Bati's recommendation for restoring dry cigars. The author suggests wetting the bottom of a cigar box and putting the box into a sealed plastic bag, which seems a very haphazard method for restoring what are likely very precious, old smokes. He also says that no cigars are worth aging for more than 15 years. There are a few smokers coughing on their pre-Castro Havanas at that idea. While Bati's language often flows, it becomes stilted just as frequently, sounding like an old Soviet apparatchik handing down edicts: "The cigars are marketed under different names in Europe and America. Some sizes come in a choice of maduro or 'natural' wrappers. The Hemingway Signa tapers at one end. The dark Rothschild is a splendid cigar." The world is full of books about cigars, most of them guides to the “best,” for the “connoisseur,” and for “idiots” (really). At least one claims to be “complete.” And there’s the problem. No published book, because of the time it takes to research, write, and print can possibly be complete given the speed at which the cigar industry is producing new cigars or old cigars with new blends, or old blends with new wrappers, or old and new blends in new sizes. (I think I’ve confused myself.)The guidance in The Illustrated History of Cigars is excellent, but sometimes more fascinating are the tidbits of history, from the origin of cigarettes to the myth that young Cuban women roll cigars on their thighs. Maybe I can interest you in a private drawer [in the humidor].’ Her voice was low and breathy, like a smoky exhale. Despite all of the legitimate business being done in the name of cigar capitalism, there is still one grossly undersold product in the cigar-accessory market: knowledge. Cigar Aficionado readers call the magazine daily with countless questions about aging, storing, touring, smuggling and smoking. And inevitably they ask: "Isn't there a book about all this?"