TEd genoways

Tequila Wars

“Genoways has dug deep... His densely packed biography of José Cuervo is a textured account. Genoways is able to paint a nuanced portrait of an elusive figure.”—New York Times Book Review

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
AMAZON EDITORS’ PICK

ABOUT THE BOOK

A revelatory history of the vast tequila empire born from the fires of the Mexican Revolution

“Meticulously researched… Paints an expressive picture where one can easily visualise these larger than life characters.”—Culinaire

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“A comprehensive biography... studded with
murders and battles. Rigorous and unique.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The comprehensive story of a liquor empire built during a pivotal period in Mexican history.”

—Kirkus Reviews

"In Tequila Wars, Ted Genoways tells the story of José Cuervo and how he audaciously transformed a single distillery in his hometown of Tequila, 40 miles northwest of the city of Guadalajara, into a nationwide business that withstood the violent pressures of Mexico’s politics... He was the very embodiment of circumspection, a brilliant business strategy at a time of sanguinary ferment... All the while, across the country pro- and anti-government forces waged war, sacking towns, burning buildings, extorting businesses (including Cuervo’s own La Rojeña) and murdering resisters... Tequila Wars is thus not, strictly, a biography of Cuervo. It also tells the story of the Mexican Revolution... and reading the book can, at times, feel like drinking a half-bottle of tequila in a single sitting... It is a dizzying tale... At the center of it all stood José Cuervo... Mexico should be grateful to Mr. Genoways for bringing him back from the dead.”

—Wall Street Journal

Author

ABOUT
the Author

Ted Genoways is a two-time James Beard Award winner and the author of six books, including Tequila Wars and This Blessed Earth. His other honors include a National Press Club Award, an Association of Food Journalists Award, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, and fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation. He is a senior editor at the Food & Environment Reporting Network and a President’s Professor at the University of Tulsa, where he edits Switchyard.

Photograph of Ted Genoways taken
by Mary Anne Andrei in the courtyard of
José Cuervo’s former home in the town of Tequila.

MORE PRAISE FOR TEQUILA WARS

“I am amazed by the research that
Ted Genoways has done on the Cuervo family. I treasure these stories of more than two hundred years of my ancestors, particularly the stories of the life of my great-uncle José Cuervo―and every word of it is true....
May Tequila Wars be read widely, now and for generations to come."

LUIS CUERVO HERNANDEZ,

author of La Familia Cuervo

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