I can’t figure out why this book exists.

Like many “anti smoking” books, I can’t see who this is actually written for. It’s definitely not written for smokers, but since it merely repeats the standard numbers and “facts” from the “party line”, anti smokers don’t have any reason to read this - that information is on every government smoking “facts” website and pamphlet.

In a pamphlet I can forgive statistics that aren’t fully explained. But a full size book has no excuse. We’ve all seen the numbers before (I.e. 440,000 Americans supposedly dying each year from “smoking-related” problems, or “caused by smoking”). We’ve heard those numbers but NEVER in these anti smoking books is it actually explained how these numbers are arrived at. Statistics are not pure “facts” that can be tossed around without context. If the statistics really ARE so damning, PLEASE explain them!

I guess a teacher might want to read this book, if only because they are expected to know the party line. If the book intended to help smokers quit (which it seems to, as it has a lot of quitting tips), I think it failed massively. Growing up as a smoker myself, I definitely wouldn’t take anything seriously if it didn’t show some sympathy or respect for the people being talked about - this book treats smokers with utter disdain, which I can’t see being helpful.

I disagree with the anti smoking party line. But, books like this have the opportunity to convince me otherwise. Statistical shenanigans and holier-than-thou authority doesn’t add up to facts. There ARE problems with the data, which doesn’t mean the data is wrong, but it definitely deserves to be explained thoroughly, not just repeated endlessly.

I can’t see any value to this book for anyone. (Even teachers will have this information in their curriculum, they don’t need this rehash).

Zero out of ten.