The History of Rum

By: John Donoghue, The Great Courses

Narrated by: John Donoghue

Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Piña coladas. Mojitos. Hurricanes. Daiquiris. Mai tais.

Nothing makes a vacation like one of these delightful rum drinks, right? But whether blended with ice and fruit or sipped neatly from a glass tumbler, this sweet and fiery spirit brings with it a fascinating, complicated history that stretches back to colonial times of the 17th century in the Caribbean.

"The history of rum is a tale of both sweetness and sorrow," says historian John Donoghue of Loyola University, Chicago. And, as he puts it, "If told correctly, much like a good bottle of Jamaican overproof, it burns while it inspires."

Professor Donoghue does just that in the Audible Original The History of Rum. Blending politics and economics with culture and beverage appreciation, these 10 lessons reveal how the history of rum not only shaped the drinking culture of the early modern and modern worlds, but how it also helped determine the wider histories of piracy, slavery, abolition, and global capitalism.

Explore the invention of rum as a liquor so strong it was called "kill-devil". Discover classic colonial drinks like flip and stone fence. Meet the real Captain Morgan, who pillaged the Spanish Main for capital to build Jamaica's rum industry, and learn how rum played a crucial role in the early campaigns of George Washington. Chart rum's growing profitability in international markets, which spurred everything from the transatlantic African slave trade to the American Revolution.

Above all, enjoy a 10-lesson toast to 400 years of rum - in all its tragic glory.

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Of great historical importance

This is a very well narrated story that gives profound insight into not only rum and its history but the influence of various trade practices on the history of the United States. I strongly recommend this captivating story in Audible form.

amazing business acumen and Terriost behavior are

amazing business acumen and Terriost behavior are not mutually exclusive. the brutalization of humans to achieve the desired result, should not not have terms like success used with them. they achieved wealth and where able to gain strong marketshare, due to the brutal terrorism of the African enslaved.

eye opener

Course was very informative and interesting. I didn't realize all the terrible history involved with rum.

Critical Race Theory via RUM

As the Headline states if you want a class based on Critical Race Theory this is it. Now this isn't the problem with this series of lectures. The Europeans who settled the Americas were extremely racist to not only Africans, Native Americans and others not of their "status". That is not the problem.

The problem is the lecturer takes RUM and applies it to every event of the Colonial period as if RUM was the only thing that caused all these events. There is not a balanced look at how many factors interacted and contributed to the events of the time. No it was RUM and only RUM and if there had not been RUM the world would have become a paradise we all would have enjoyed.

Interesting read, weird narration

Really enjoyed the topic. This was informative and interesting, tying in many well-known US historical events into their relationships with rum. (Some may have been a stretch of the truth)
The narrator, however, had a thoroughly bizarre way of reading some words. I don’t think it’s an ESL or an accent thing. I think he just says some words in a odd way, which I found distracting. I also found it weird that although this is supposed to be a professor narrating on a subject they are meant to be well-versed in, much of his reading felt like the first time he’d ever seen or read these words. Just…weird.

Rum is a history of Colonial Enslavement

Fantastic exploration of spirits in the western Hemisphere. centering on rum, taxes, sugar, slaves, shipping, piracy, and freedom. from Jamaica to Pittsburgh. To Barbados, Brazil, and Haiti. the human struggle that is the 500 year history of that Kill Devil Brew. from India to American Indians, the first people's including the Caribbean Nation's that fell under the yoke in a post Columbian world. from Africa, Persia, via Europe. fascinating journey of suffering, triumph and booze.

informative!

This is a fascinating look at the history of rum from an economic, social, and political perspective. I knew a little about the triangular trade in molasses/sugar, rum, and slaves, but not many details, nor that rum began mostly as an industrial byproduct rather than a craft beverage. Professor Donoghue is really good at interweaving various strands of history while keeping events clear.

The narration is a little slow, but I found listening at 1.10x speed hit the sweet spot.

Fantastic

Amazing narration by the author himself, with a wonderful voice. I love this history of rum!

Very interesting...not what I was expecting.

This is a very interesting set of lectures and is well delivered. The professor real does a good job citing sources. He is also very enthusiastic. The one thing I dislike is the narrative tends to over lap and repeat at some junctures. This makes it harder to follow from a linear standpoint. However, this is understandable given focus of the lectures is on different topics. I would say I wasn’t expecting the history to focus so much on pirates but I learned a lot. Overall I would recommend it.

40 minutes of Rum, 5 hours of..

You'll know about the origins of Rum (spoiler; not that exciting), but that only takes a few minutes of facts and story. The rest of the lecture, John Donoghue, presented it as a narrative of political dribble. and Rum becomes a background character. I felt as if he was pushing the Sins of the past and remarking on the fact that there was Rum on the table.