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Though it remains No. 1 in the U.S., Hershey’s is mostly reviled as “barnyard chocolate” by Eurosnobs, sissified Canadians, and other so-called confectionary connoisseurs across the globe. In her top-notch expose The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars, Joel Glenn Brenner offers examples of the low regard internationals have for the hallowed Hershey taste: In one scene, a group of horrified Germans spit out Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at a tasting seminar. “Milton Hershey completely ruined the American palate with his sour, gritty chocolate,” sniffs Swissman Hans Scheu, president of the Cocoa Merchants’ Association. I’ll take a Hershey’s with almonds over some toffee-contaminated, condensed-milk, $20-a-box, bow-tied Swiss crap any day, Hans. Brenner discusses and signs copies of her book, which provides a fascinating glimpse into the cutthroat corporate wars between America’s two great chocolate makers, at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. (202) 364-1919. (Eddie Dean)