Tobacco

A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization

By: Iain Gately

Narrated by: Christopher Grove

Tobacco was first cultivated and enjoyed by the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas, who used it for medicinal, religious, and social purposes long before the arrival of Columbus. But when Europeans began to colonize the American continents, it became something else entirely - a cultural touchstone of pleasure and success and a coveted commodity that would transform the world economy forever. Iain Gately's Tobacco tells the epic story of an unusual plant and its unique relationship with the history of humanity, from its obscure ancient beginnings through its rise to global prominence to its current embattled state today. In a lively narrative, Gately makes the case for the tobacco trade being the driving force behind the growth of the American colonies, the foundation of Dutch trading empire, the underpinning cause of the African slave trade, and the financial basis for our victory in the American Revolution. Informed and erudite, Tobacco is a vivid and provocative look into the complex history of this precious plant.

©2001 Iain Gately. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Very entertaining

The first 8 to 9 hrs of the book analyze tobacco history before the 1950’s. The rest of the book is focused on more recent decades. It was interesting to learn about how tobacco influenced world economy, politics, and business. This is a book that I believe is worth having. Narration was very good, but fast for my taste, but I slowed down the speed via the app adjustment option.

Comprehensive and informative

This is a great social history of Tobacco that takes you all the way through the current near prohibition in the west. The narration is done well. It's worth the time to listen.

Baseball, Apple Pie and Tobacco

Where does Tobacco rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Tobacco ranks as high as any history book I have ever listened to on Audible. I usually listen to anything by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, among others.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Tobacco?

The author does a fascinating job of explaining how the American economy has been interwoven with tobacco from the start.

Which scene was your favorite?

It was interesting to learn about Native American traditions involving tobacco.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book is very detailed and should be enjoyed in intervals.

Any additional comments?

A lot of research must have gone into this historical account, and it is a great lesson in history, as well as entertaining. The narrator did a wonderful job, as well. The book is a pleasure to listen to.

Amazing history of Tobacco direct and captivating

As an pipe smoker and dipper I found the history to be more complex than I would have imagined. I'm glad modern weed smokers don't get molten lead poured down their throats like many Tobacco smokers did.

Comprehensive, entertaining and informative.

This presentation was fun to listen. The author displayed nice organization and the narrator did a fine job.

Great anthropological hypothesis of tobacco

Goes deep into the plant, it's biology, and it's cultivation and spread. From pre-european expansion/colonialism to WWI to modern times, this book goes into it all! Makes you wonder what would happen if tobacco never existed (or coffee for that instance).

Complete history

The book covers in some detail the history of tobacco from it’s earliest known used to current day. It appears to be written by an author who is British, So a slightly more European slant than an American might’ve written. The book appears to be in favor of the plant and smoking as one might suspected.
I believe the contents of the book to be accurate and inclusive

Great history about tobacco.

Great book, I enjoyed a lot, the only pitfall it focus to much in England tobacco history

Interesting

I found this very interesting and informative. I liked it all the way though it felt a little lengthy by the end.

A must read for any tobacco enthusiast!

Tobacco is in my blood. Some of my earliest memories are running through the tobacco fields of my ancestral homelands of Kentucky. The “weed” as the author puts it, was everywhere and everyone was a consumer.

I’ve enjoyed tobacco in almost all of its consumable varieties— starting at out with cigarettes because they were “cool” and then moving to chewing tobacco as a rural cultural identifier, and eventually to pipes and cigars which I now consume daily.

It is difficult to find good histories and fair analysis on tobacco due to the recent global “war on tobacco.” The author does an excellent job of providing a balanced look at a difficult-to-research subject, weaving in the rich contextual history that every armchair historian craves.

I would have preferred a deeper dive into cigar manufacturing as essential aspects of modern American history such as the creation of Tampa Florida on the back of this industry were omitted for reasons unknown. As was the centuries old art of fine cigar making. Another major omission was deep and abiding cultural identify that supports chewing tobacco in rural America. This was touched on briefly, but largely understated.

Overall, a very satisfying read and I’ll be picking up more of the author’s books in the future.