A serviceable history of smoking, though it reeks of the 1920s and it is quite noticeable that the author, one enigmatically named "Count Corti," is a German. For instance, there are perhaps twice as many German anecdotes as from any other country, and more time is devoted to the pipe pre-Napoleon than either cigars or cigarettes. Also, the final chapter is delightfully entitled "The Final Triumph of Smoking," as, the author notes, smoking was everywhere accepted after the "Great War." A nice bibliography, nice vignettes, and nice illustrations. ( )