Customer Reviews

Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ian Williams sheds light on the role of the sugary distillation in shaping America in the Revolution and thereafter. The book is filled with juicy anecdotes and tales. You will have a new respect for rum after reading this amusing and enlightening book

Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776 does a decent job of painting the picture of rum in the lives of early American colonists. It's been praised as "rambunctious, rollicking history, sodden with tasty lore," (Kirkus Reviews), but I find the writing style a little lackluster, actually. The play on spirits (distilled alcohol), spirited (lively), and spiritual (in a religious context) can only be funny for so long, but Williams stretches it to the last drop. A minor quibble, though the author does occasionally give in to the temptation to use as much verbiage as possible without ending a sentence. It gives the book a much less scholarly attitude that it would otherwise have had.

That said, the information Williams presents is interesting, in its context. The author's focus is clearly early American history, which is not unreasonable, given that rum's very origin was in the New World, the Americas. However, the reader is occasionally left with the feeling that there may be a broader context he is missing out on. Of course, the title of the book does limit the focus, but limiting the focus of a book which is already very narrow in scope (rum, as a topic, is not especially broad compared to, say, trade in general, or even alcohol in general) doesn't help matters. Williams occasionally seems to be a little bit too eager to prove his points, sometimes grasping at straws; however, in a book about a subject often lacking in documentary evidence, some conjecture is not out of place.

Williams cites most of the same sources most other histories of rum use, mainly because there aren't many solid primary sources out there. He then proceeds into less murky areas, to the American Revolution and rum's role therein (which he exaggerates from time to time). The very end of the book contains a few short chapters about rum in different locales, and he closes with a brief chapter regarding the US Prohibition era. There is also a section of black-and-white pictures, including vintage advertisements.

All in all, Ian Williams' Rum is quite readable, and worth having in your collection, if you do indeed have a collection of this sort of book. If my review has sounded somewhat tepid, it's only because I have since read other treatments of the subject that I find better; another good addition to your liquor library would be Wayne Curtis' And a Bottle of Rum. But if you'd like a light read, and you're in no danger of taking everything you read at face value, A Social and Sociable History is worth picking up. I'd give it 3.5 stars, but Amazon won't allow it.

This is not only a scholarly piece of work, but a immensely readable one. Full of history and political commentary covering over 250 years of rum, world politics and of course, drinking. It is an engaging read, full of history and a great reference but with enough humor to be recreational rather than required reading on the subject.

The piece on Bacardi towards the end of the book will make it stunningly obvious why Bacardi bought Grey Goose.

This is a fantastic book. It is a history book that reads like a novel. I had no idea that the history of "Kill-Devil" was so convoluted and storied. Mr. Williams clearly not only understands his subject,but is passionate about it. I recommend this book to every armcahair alcoholics who love their booze and love thier history. It never hurts to know what you're getting into, or what's geting into you.

What a great little book...easy to read, funny as hell, full of sarcasm. The author makes light of the stupidity, greed, and charlatanism of the times....everyone was in on it and no one gave a damn about the consequences....

Hey wait a minute...that sounds like our governments today!

A very good book! It has facts, anecdotes, and humor. Not only is it scholarly, but it reads like a good novel. You can't put it down.
Williams describes a time in the Americas when rum was the oil that fueled colonialism, trade, war, and slavery. While astonishing to ponder, Williams convinces you that this was the way of the world back then.

This books is great for travelling. Good story lengths to get you from point to point.

A good read...make connections between slavery and other economic acdtivities like the New England fishing industry to the Rum Trade...makes connection between Rum and the social fabric of the American Colonies...an easy and fun read for anybody interested in American History.

I stumbled upon this book looking at what's available on amazon.com that we don't get in the UK (although looking at the UK site, it's available now). It's fantastic - beautifully presented, interesting and very informative. It shows the sad hypocrisy of the time - slave trading was encouraged but trading rum was frowned upon. My only real criticism is I continually wanted a glass of rum as I read it - you can almost taste the drink as you read.

I should have been suspicious of a book that had received such perfect set of reviews, but we purchased it anyways.

Right from the start, Mr. Williams sets the tone of his book, which appeared to have been written as a disguised advertising campaign for British Anglo-Saxon culture and British Caribbean rum.

According to his various subtle, and not so subtle passages, in this detail-filled "product placement" literary work, any other culture of rum producing countries had worse products, less history doing it, less "protestant enterprise" and sophistication, and were "relatively more guilty" of slavery, somehow.

Even world famous French Caribbean rums were identified in many old quotes as being "disagreeable in odor" said one, and "a spirit of mediocre degree and disagreeable taste" said another. Mr. Williams subtly but clearly sentenced the many wonderful French Caribbean rums to the land of the detestable and low quality products, far lower than his beloved Anglo-Saxon products.

Judging from his subtle but constant attacks on French Caribbean Rums and also by his frequent mention of another writer, Mr.Alain Huetz de Lemps, whose name he misspelled repeatedly as "de Lemp", his book appears to be a response to such French writer's book "Histoire du rhum (Outremer)", which is also available thru Amazon but unfortunately only in French so far.

Mr. De Lemps has written far many more books than Mr. Williams on food and beverage history of many more cultures around the globe, since the 1950's. So, he must be the real useful reference for anyone interested in food and beverage history.

Mr. Williams commits another blunt literary transgression when he ignored and then also bashed, in his typical subtle manner, Brazil's mega industry of Brazilian rum, locally called "cachaça" (pronounced "KA-SHA-SSA"), which is still mostly unknown to the outside world, even though it dates back to the mid-1500's.

Brazilian production of sugar and its local version of sugar cane distilled alcohol "cachaça" is so old, diverse and large that Brazilian rum is now the 3rd largest distilled alcohol product in the world by volume, well ahead of Caribbean rum, whisky and "whiskey", Gin, Sake and Tequila. Brazil produces and consumes over 300 million gallons of Brazilian rum per year but only 1% is exported at the present.

Furthermore, it is worth noting, since Mr. Williams wouldn't do it for us, that the 4th largest alcohol brand in the world by volume is also one such "cachaça" manufacturer from Brazil that is larger than most world famous names like Bacardi or Mount Gay, and there are an estimated 3.000 other local brands of Brazilian rum to be discovered. Unfortunately, Mr. Williams says nothing about that.


For those who follow the international spirits industry, it is widely known that Brazilian rum is only now becoming increasingly famous, mostly in Europe, where it is used to prepare the tasty Brazilian cocktails "Caipirinhas" (pronounced "KAI-PEE-REE-NYAS), which are made with cachaça, almost any fresh fruit, crushed and then shaken in a mixture with sugar and ice.

Despite the above, Mr. Williams, in his apparent mission to elevate some rum producing nations and put down others, completely ignores these facts, choosing instead to equate Brazilian rum with ethanol fuel for cars.

He chose to do that, instead of recognizing Brazil's long history and formidable experience with sugar and alcohol production, which have been leading the world's production of such commodities for centuries.

If he wanted to dedicate time in a book about rum to discuss Brazil's alternative fuel industry, then he should have said what is true, instead, which is the fact that the Brazilian sugar cane industry is so old, large and sophisticated that it is the leader today in green fuel technology with the production of ethanol FUEL derived from sugar cane by-products, the same technology now being experimented with by US Mid-Western famers using corn, which is not the same as saying that Brazilians "run" their cars on "Brazilian rum".

Mr.William's apparent tactic to equate one idea with the other was clever and simple, making for a wonderful attack on the yet undiscovered Brazilian rum producers. However, Mr. Williams creation is completely false and misleading.

For anyone who is interested in knowing more about the history of rum and its many types or manifestations, it should go without saying that Brazilian rums or "cachaças" are every bit as sophisticated and worth discovering as any other rum in the world. If anything, Brazilian rums are even more intriguing, because they are likely to be older and are certainly less discovered than any other type of rum normally available in the marketplace.

For ignoring these facts, willingly or not, I give Mr. Williams a ZERO in literary integrity.