“…Government ministers took exploratory trips to America to learn about everything from fast food hamburgers to men’s suits in Macy’s. …”

“…Coffee is not only a popular drink, but also linked different worlds: The coffee trade linked Hamburg and Bremen to transnational networks between Europe and Latin America.Central America was important for global coffee trade because the region was the first to introduce the "wet" form of treatment. …”

“…In his diary written in English, he describes his childhood and youth in Altona, his first professional years in England and his daily life and long voyages in Peru and to Europe. The diary gives a unique version of commerce and trade, politics and politicians, and of lawsuits and corruption in nineteenth-century Peru and abroad. …”

“…Included are columns arguing that campaign contributions have not corrupted politics, that the 'service economy' is not turning America into a nation of hamburger flippers, and that the Internet isn't the most important invention since the printing press" -- back cover…”