More Than a Glass and a Half: A History of Cadbury in Australia is a love letter to Australia's century-long love affair with the brand.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the brand's origins in England and subsequent expansion into Australia.

It details chocolate's arrival in Europe from 'the New World' in the 16^th Century and its rise in popularity.

It explains how the Catholic church played a strong role in chocolate's broadening appeal, after Pope Gregory XIII deemed cocoa was not a food in 1577, making it for consumption during fasting.

The book details how cocoa's popularity grew even more due to its perceived calming qualities - it was used as a treatment for colic and to ward off feelings of lust in monks and nuns.

It then details the origins of Cadbury itself, which dates back to the early 1800s.

An advertisement in the March 1, 1824 edition of the Birmingham Gazette announced the arrival of experienced tea trader John Cadbury's new business. In addition to tea and coffee, the advertisement announced the store would also trade in other goods, including cocoa nibs. Five years later, Cadbury decided to move away from retail and to focus on manufacturing cocoa products. By the middle of the century, Cadbury was manufacturing 16 types of drinking chocolate and had started to produce chocolate bars.

But the story really starts with Cadbury's expansion into Australia and growth into a brand Aussies came to consider one of their own.

Imported Cadbury products first arrived in Australia in 1853 and by the 1880s, the company was looking into expanding its operations into the country.

The British government banned the export of chocolate in 1917. This would lead to an unlikely alliance between competitors Cadbury, J.S. Fry and Sons and James Pascall Ltd.

The three companies merged to launch the Australian factory in 1922, settling on Claremont in Tasmania due to its climate and more cost effective access to electricity.

While the book provides a fascinating insight into the history of chocolate and Cadbury in Europe and Down Under, for the most part it is a celebration of Australia's love affair with the brand.

Author and RMIT Professor Robert Crawford said monitoring how Cadbury had evolved, both in Australia and abroad, had been a fascinating process.

"It was fascinating learning about the way people's tastes changed over time and the role Cadbury played in that. The way in which the brand changed as nation changed," he said.

"Early on it (Cadbury) was very much a symbol of Britain for colonial consumers, a taste of home.

"When the factory was established people started to see it as more Australian.

"It was probably in the 1950s that Australians adopted Cadbury. Its advertising and marketing was the really important thing.

"When you would buy a block of chocolate, you would see a label saying 'made in Tasmania'."

Cadbury products were distributed to troops during World War II and the Australian arm of the company used this in marketing campaigns to really solidify Australians' affinity with the company.

"Well over half of their supplies were going to the armed forces, but the company would continue to advertise during that time saying 'sorry it's not available, but it's going to the troops'.

"For the troops, it was a taste of home, a bit of normality. Then there's the energy content, which is why the military still provides chocolate.

"After the war and after all those years of austerity, chocolate was a bit of a 'luxury' for everyday people. It was something nice that people could afford."

Cadbury's knack for clever advertising didn't end with the war. Who could forget those famous commercials with physicist Julius Sumner Miller in the 1980s? The professor's assurances that each block of Dairy Milk Chocolate contained a glass and a half of full cream milk and the famous catch phrase 'Why is it so?'

Then there was the famous Flake add from the mid eighties, in which a pretty young woman snuck off from a party to enjoy a Flake under a tree, only to be joined by a male suitor.

Robert interviewed many readers of The Senior for the project, following a story the masthead ran as he was conducting research into the book and seeking volunteers.

"The stories were very much about sharing it with family. People shared so many memories of sharing chocolate with their families in the 50s and 60s," he said.

"The two words that came up in every interview were family and quality."

More Than a Glass and A Half: A History of Cadbury in Australia by Robert Crawford (Halstead Press) RRP $39.95