For God, Country and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It

``Unauthorized'' it may be, but freelance business journalist Pendergrast, granted access to Coca-Cola company files, has produced an entertaining, fair-minded history without much scandal. He traces the roots of ``the world's most widely distributed product'' as a patent medicine, describes the development of the unique ``Hobbleskirt'' bottle and depicts the canny use of advertising, which enabled Coke to ``permeate every aspect of American life.'' He also covers the work of legendary company leader Robert Woodruff, Coke's quasi-military expansion during WW II, the growing competition from Pepsi and the company's ill-fated mid-1980s reformulation of the Coke recipe. If the book doesn't always make for smooth reading, it has many amusing details: lists of the names of Coke imitators (``Revive-ola,'' ``Toka-tona''); the antics of a biology professor who, acting as a Coca-Cola defense witness, ingested bugs marinated in the drink; a hilarious glimpse of football star Mean Joe Greene filming a commercial for which he chugged down 18 Cokes, even though he vomited after the sixth. Photos not seen by PW. Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection. (Apr.)