Cigars: A Guide

The story of cigars.

"The most futile and disastrous day seems well spent when it is reviewed through theblue, fragrant smoke of a Havana Cigar." Evelyn Waugh

Exploring not just the extraordinary story of tobacco and cigars but also a history that has been instrumental in the foundations of societies and cultures, Cigars will take you on an astonishing journey through landscapes, scents and an incredible roll call of the great, the good and the not-so good. From the heat of Cuba to the drawing rooms of Europe, the cigar has provided solace and a chance for worldly contemplation to generations of thinkers, businessmen, writers, entrepreneurs and connoisseurs. 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 neophyte and a reference for the connoisseur.

"A cigar ought not to be smoked solely with the mouth, but with the hand, the eyes, and with the spirit." Zino Davidoff

Nicholas Foulkes is the author of around 20 books. His most recent include, Balls: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century and Swans, Legends of the Jet Society. His books have been published by Little, Brown & Company, Weidenfield and Nicolson, Assouline, Random House and Thomas Dunne Books in the USA.

He contributes to a wide range of newspapers and magazines around the world. He is a columnist for Country Life; a contributing editor to The FT's How To Spend It Magazine, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair; and luxury editor of British GQ. He launched and continues to edit Vanity Fair's twice yearly watch magazine On Time. He launched and continues to edit Vanity Fair on Art. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Finch's Quarterly Review. In 2007 he was named Havana Man of the Year by the Cuban government, having been nominated for this award on four previous occasions. In 2009 he was appointed to the board of the Norman Mailer Centre. He is a graduate of Hertford College Oxford and lives in London with his wife and two sons.