Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by Iain Gately ISBN: 0-8021-3960-4 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Fascinating, informative and in-depth
Comment: A stimulant employed for medicinal and ritual usages by Native American cultures going back thousands of years, it was the coming of the Europeans that enabled tobacco to become a part of every culture in the world and through 20th Century advertising practices, to become an established cultural icon even while being discovered as the source of numerous, often lethal, ailments for its habituated and addicted users. Tobacco: A Cultural History Of How An Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by journalist Iain Gately is a fascinating, informative and in-depth look at the addictive and deadly drug that has become intertwined with the American way of life throughout the centuries. Individual chapters discuss everything from ancient use of tobacco among native peoples to how tobacco is grown today. A compelling, meticulously researched, occasionally humorous and always well written read, Tobacco is strongly recommended for both school and library collections.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Book From Many Perspectives
Comment: Mostly historic, this book is excellent from many perspectives. The history of Tobacco is discussed from it's origins in Central America, all the way to the production of cigarettes in modern times with facinating bits of well written history at every page. Although written well enough to be scholarly, it's very easy to read and fun to learn from. I enjoy cigars, and of my tobacco smoking friends who have shared this book, they all read it cover to cover as well.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not just for smoking
Comment: Gately's history of tobacco's effect on humanity is an off-beat but well-written look at a plant that has generated a good share of controversy over the years. While more entertaining and better organized than the similarly-themed book Salt by Mark Kurlansky, Gately's knowledge of history beyond that of tobacco is sometimes deficient and he often comes off as an apologist for the tobacco industry.
Gately starts at the beginning, with the Indians who discovered tobacco and consumed it in a number of fashions. When Europeans were introduced, they quickly became addicted and tobacco became one of the most valuable crops around. Although Gately goes all the way to the present day and the decline of tobacco (at least in the U.S.), and he does discuss some of the health problems related to smoking, there is a sense he is downplaying the dangers of the substance and the industry's complicity in avoiding reform.
Despite his biases, Gately does present most of the facts and even if you don't agree with his views, he is still a good writer and he covers this topic with a brisk and often humorous style. This is a good read for those interested in history from the point-of-view of a substance instead a person or a nation.
 |
Title: The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe ISBN: 0500282293 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title: The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World by Larry Zuckerman ISBN: 0865475784 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese ISBN: 0738204005 Publisher: Perseus Books Group Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 0140275010 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 0142001619 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 28 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
