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Tobacco
- A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization
- Narrated by: Christopher Grove
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
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Publisher's Summary
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.
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What listeners say about Tobacco
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kelli
- 12-25-20
Interesting until a pro-smoking ending
This book, which is well narrated, covers a few thousand years of tobacco's history. I learned many interesting facts and have a better understanding how we've ended up where we are today. 85% of the book is interesting and enjoyable. That said, the last 1-2 chapters are surprisingly pro-smoking. As another reviewer noted, the author does not mention the tobacco industry's cover up about how much it knew about smoking's effects on health. However, I was more surprised that the author openly questions smoking's health effects. In fact, his claims were so strong that I decided to read the studies on smoking's health effects (conclusion: yes, smoking is bad for your health). He also makes a claim that that smoking is not bad for society since it is cost neutral given that the cost of caring for those who smoke are offset by the fact that smokers die "on average, sixteen years earlier", which allows society to save on pension and later in life medical costs. Assuming the financial claim is factually correct, it is a narrow (and callous) way to justify smoking.
So overall, a decent book, but be aware that the perspective is biased.
6 people found this helpful
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- David
- 09-12-15
Comprehensive, entertaining and informative.
This presentation was fun to listen. The author displayed nice organization and the narrator did a fine job.
4 people found this helpful
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- Xavier Edwards
- 09-11-15
interesting
I've never had much interest in cigarettes or tobacco until listening to this book. The history of this plant is beyond anything I would have thought of. a must read. narrated very well.
4 people found this helpful
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- JFL
- 04-19-18
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.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jose
- 03-23-18
Your gonna know something about Tobacco!
This a quality history book on the topic of tobacco.
It covers the original use to Pre Columbian American people. How the plant became popular and then a valuable product.
The laws and economic impact of tobacco are fascinating and this book will entertain a history reader, it entertained me for sure
Quality work
1 person found this helpful
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- SAMA
- 11-26-17
Informative
Although I'm not a smoker, I do know a lot of smokers who would appreciate this book for different reasons than I would. In general, this audiobook explores the addiction to tobacco in all its varieties and its use in the past in rituals and as hallucinogenics. Overall an interesting read, but do not give it to your smoker friends if you want them to quit.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anja Schmidt
- 01-23-23
Interesting
I found this very interesting and informative. I liked it all the way though it felt a little lengthy by the end.
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- Bryan Beaty
- 08-03-22
Very good!
Very good audio book. I liked that the producers chose a British voice talent to do the reading. It gives the book an air of sophistication. Highly recommend.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-30-22
wow
this book was engaging from start to finish and I enjoyed it a lot. very informative and I learned so much.
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- Israel Marcano Gonzalez
- 02-13-22
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.
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Story
Maddie Sykes is a burgeoning seamstress who’s just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. After years of war rations and shortages, Bright Leaf is a prosperous wonderland in full technicolor bloom, and Maddie is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s glossiest clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives.
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Historical fiction at its best!
- By Rambo on 04-07-22
By: Adele Myers
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The Cigarette
- A Political History
- By: Sarah Milov
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Tobacco is the quintessential American product. From Jamestown to the Marlboro Man, the plant occupied the heart of the nation's economy and expressed its enduring myths. But today smoking rates have declined and smokers are exiled from many public spaces. The story of tobacco's fortunes may seem straightforward: Science triumphed over our addictive habits and the cynical machinations of tobacco executives. Yet the reality is more complicated. Both the cigarette's popularity and its eventual decline reflect a parallel course of shifting political priorities.
By: Sarah Milov
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Drink
- A Cultural History of Alcohol
- By: Iain Gately
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 21 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Drink investigates the history of this Jekyll and Hyde of fluids, tracing mankind's love/hate relationship with alcohol from ancient Egypt to present day. Drink further documents the contribution of alcohol to the birth and growth of the United States, taking in the War of Independence, Pennsylvania Whiskey revolt, slave trade, and failed experiment of national Prohibition. Finally, it provides a history of the world's most famous drinks - and drinkers. Packed with trivia and colorful characters, Drink amounts to an intoxicating history of the world.
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Amazing!
- By Ben on 02-23-22
By: Iain Gately
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Milk of Paradise
- A History of Opium
- By: Lucy Inglis
- Narrated by: Colleen Prendergast
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Poppy tears, opium, heroin, fentanyl: humankind has been in thrall to the ‘Milk of Paradise’ for millennia. The latex of papaver somniferum is a bringer of sleep, of pleasurable lethargy, of relief from pain - and hugely addictive. A commodity without rival, it is renewable, easy to extract, transport and refine, and subject to an insatiable global demand. No other substance in the world is as simple to produce or as profitable. It is the basis of a gargantuan industry built upon a shady underworld, but ultimately it is a farm-gate material that lives many lives ....
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Historical gold mine....
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 01-29-20
By: Lucy Inglis
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Last Call
- The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
- By: Daniel Okrent
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages. Okrent reveals how Prohibition marked a confluence of diverse forces, including the growing political power of the women’s suffrage movement and the fear of small-town, native-stock Protestants that they were losing control of their country to the immigrants of the large cities.
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Very Thorough Historical Review
- By Pierre on 11-12-12
By: Daniel Okrent
Related to this topic
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A Perfect Red
- By: Amy Butler Greenfield
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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A Perfect Red recounts the colorful history of cochineal, a legendary red dye that was once one of the world's most precious commodities. Treasured by the ancient Mexicans, cochineal was sold in the great Aztec marketplaces, where it attracted the attention of the Spanish conquistadors in 1519. Shipped to Europe, the dye created a sensation, producing the brightest, strongest red the world had ever seen. Soon Spain's cochineal monopoly was worth a fortune. Desperate to find their own sources of the elusive dye, the English, French, Dutch, and other Europeans tried to crack the enigma of cochineal.
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History of a peculiar substance through the ages
- By Tobia on 08-17-16
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola.
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Fun and Informative
- By Stoker on 09-09-11
By: Tom Standage
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Vermeer's Hat
- The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World
- By: Timothy Brook
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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A Vermeer painting shows a military officer in a Dutch sitting room, talking to a laughing girl. In another canvas, fruit spills from a blue-and-white porcelain bowl. Familiar images that captivate us with their beauty--but as Timothy Brook shows us, these intimate pictures actually give us a remarkable view of an expanding world.
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A wonderful book
- By Acteon on 07-09-14
By: Timothy Brook
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The Book of Gin
- A Spirited World History from Alchemists' Stills and Colonial Outposts to Gin Palaces, Bathtub Gin, and Artisanal Cocktails
- By: Richard Barnett
- Narrated by: Richard Shelton
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Book of Gin, Richard Barnett traces the life of this beguiling spirit, once believed to cause a new kind of drunkenness. In the 18th century, gin-craze debauchery (and class conflict) inspired Hogarth's satirical masterpieces "Gin Lane" and "Beer Street". In the 19th century, gin was drunk by Napoleonic War naval heroes, at lavish gin palaces, and by homesick colonials, who mixed it with their bitter anti-malarial tonics.
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Great history on my favorite drink
- By Lucas Samples on 10-18-20
By: Richard Barnett
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Empire
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The British Empire was the largest in all history: the nearest thing to global domination ever achieved. The world we know today is in large measure the product of Britain's age of empire. The global spread of capitalism, telecommunications, the English language, and the institutions of representative government - all these can be traced back to the extraordinary expansion of Britain's economy, population, and culture from the 17th century until the mid-20th. On a vast and vividly colored canvas, Empire shows how the British Empire acted as midwife to modernity.
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Not Balanced till Conclusion
- By Hectoris on 08-13-20
By: Niall Ferguson
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Empire
- How Britain Made the Modern World
- By: Niall Ferguson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Once vast swathes of the globe were coloured imperial red, and Britannia ruled not just the waves but the prairies of America, the plains of Asia, the jungles of Africa and the deserts of Arabia. Just how did a small, rainy island in the North Atlantic achieve all this? And why did the empire on which the sun literally never set finally decline and fall? Niall Ferguson's acclaimed Empire brilliantly unfolds the imperial story in all its splendours and its miseries.
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Such a great listen - What a History Lesson
- By Dorothy on 11-04-17
By: Niall Ferguson