by Iain Gately
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Product Description
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.
Amazon.com Review
Iain Gately's Tobacco is a sweeping cultural history of the world's most prevalent addiction, and it's probably the best book ever written on its subject. Gately begins in pre-Columbian America, where the natives made tobacco "their most popular gift to the rest of humanity," and continues through all the cantankerous smoking litigation of the 1990s. The story touches on just about every subject imaginable: tobacco in literature, the movies, and society. It would be wrong to call Gately an advocate of smoking, but he clearly takes pleasure, for example, in noting that Hitler's Nazis launched one of history's most vigorous anti-smoking initiatives. The book is full of delicious trivia: Many of Shakespeare's contemporaries smoked, but there's no evidence that the Bard himself did, and none of his plays make any mention of smoking; he "kept his writing a smoke-free zone." Nevertheless, reports Gately with a smirk, there is "archaeological evidence proving that smoking was going on around the Shakespeare household in Stratford-upon-Avon during his life." Smoking aficionados won't want to miss Tobacco, and it's a much healthier gift for them than a box of cigars. --John Miller
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Average Customer Review:
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Robusto!, 2007-05-20
I really do not understand the objections that other reviewers had to this book. Gately put together a lively, enchanting narrative concerning the history of tobacco. He covers a great many things and does not fail to include the words of those who once sung its praises. That's what should be done whenever one wishes to tell a "complete" story about anything. He does not self-censor his prose which is exactly what those of us most interested in the truth deeply desire. This book isn't titled "Quit Smoking," it's a cultural history of tobacco. Anyway, Gately presents statistics and analysis elucidating the dangers inherent to using the infamous weed. He outlines the positions of the state and depicts lung cancer as the private hell it clearly is. Smoking is a personal choice and there's no reason to ban it as the prohibition of substances has not met with much success over the years. I'm sure the author would agree with my conclusion but that does not mean he is depicting tobacco in a favorable light. This book was a serious page-turner and I enjoyed it very much. I recommend it without reservation.
2 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
 Praising a poison, ignoring its toll on humanity, 2007-05-09
This book should carry a label - just like a cigarette box: WARNING ! Reading the next 370 can be hazardous to your (mental) health !
The author paints a rosy picture of smoking as a "pleasure", of tobacco as a stuff that brings out the best in soldiers, writers, hunters, lovers - hardly ever is it associated with something vile, deplorable. And of course the millions who have died and will die in the future are hardly worth mentioning. Those who warned against the dreadful habit through the ages (starting with King James I. who called it "dangerous to the lungs" - in 1605 !) are rdidiculed and belittled, the scientific evidence emerging after the 1950 landmark studies by Evart Graham and Ernest Wynder in the US and Richard Doll and Austin Bradford Hill is a mere footnote and not worth further elaborating. No, smoking is a wonderful experience - and haven't you heard it: "Tobacco has recently been discovered to protect against some of the most devastating ailments of old age, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease." So that superb pleasure is on the way to become a wonder drug ! It's an insult to the readers' intelligence.
A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health estimates that approximately 1 billion (yes: BILLION) people will die of tobacco-related diseases over the course of the 21th century. Gatley predicts that tobacco habits (translation: rude and ignorant people forcing their fellow human beings to inhale carcinogens by exposing them to secondhand smoke) will be with us for centuries to come. Good Lord - or wise lawmakers everywhere - protect us from this dark future !
For a medical doctor and a historian like me, "Tobacco" is one of the must repulsive books I've ever read. It makes you wonder which Big Tobacco company sponsored it - or whether it was a joint venture by the whole industry.
3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
 Easy to read, but hard to believe, 2006-10-26
In the begining, the historical information was interesting and quite believable, but by the end accuracy and credibility were suspect. Perhaps an update to include studies released since the book's publication (i.e. the 2006 Surgeon General's Report on Secondhand Smoke) would correct the book's biased slant towards tobacco.
2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
entertaining but partisan to point of silliness, 2006-09-03
A very entertaining and well written history, but the passionate arguments against government taxation and regulation of smoking (hot political topics these days) are hard to take seriously.
Gately denies that second hand smoke poses any danger at all to non-smokers. He is convinced that advertising restrictions, cigarette taxes, public smoking bans, and public service ads have no effect on how much people actually smoke. (They merely infringe on the "rights of smokers.") He ridicules the notion that cigarette smoke could be harmful to children.
His humor is usually enjoyable, but it is sometimes inappropriate (smoking-related deaths are actually a fairly serious matter), and it is sometimes hard to tell when he is joking. For example, he cites UK government data that smokers die 16 years earlier than non-smokers and talks about all the money this saves the government in pensions, adding, "It follows that it would be financial madness for the British government to ban smoking, and unless a better argument than its official estimated death toll of 120,000 smokers per annum can be found, smoking is unlikely to be prohibited in the British Isles." Is this funny? Am I supposed to laugh or cry?
Gately frequently comes across as a loving mother who has discovered her son is a killer and has not quite come to terms with the fact. She can't help wishing for him to succeed, even while acknowledging her sympathy is problematic and recognizing the irony of her situation.
Still, only a true tobacco believer could write in his concluding paragraph that "to the 1.2 billion smokers of the world, tobacco is not just a killer, but a pleasure, a comforter, and a friend... Tobacco has recently been discovered to protect against some of the most devastating ailments of old age, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. It has also been shown to guard against cancer of the womb.... Many great men and women have left elegant testimonies to their tobacco habits, which will be joined, I believe, with others made in centuries to come."
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
History and Perspective that's Easy to Read, 2005-07-06
I really enjoy these kinds of books. Unlike others that are painfully academic to read, this one moves along smoothly while providing the history and background on the cultural, social, agricultural, economic, and political aspects of this plant. Get some seeds and try growing your own - even if just for ornamental reasons.
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