This was for my bookclub, and I only got as far as the Rum and Coke chapter before I ran out of time. I liked it well enough, but I'm not going to finish reading it now that the bookclub discussion is over. ( )

This is a book I definitely recommend. If you like rum, or you enjoy rum drinks, you will probably enjoy this book that will teach you more about the history of this spirit. If you are history buff or reader, you will enjoy the book as well.

The book is organized in chapters named after a different rum drink. Each chapter provides a history of the drink in question as well as a history of the New World in the process. Together, the chapters provide not only a narrative of where rum came from, where it has been, where it is now, and where it is headed. You also get a good amount of history overall from Colonial America to today. The book is a good example of the microhistory genre: it takes a single thing, and it explores its history in depth. However, this kind of book also provides a look at history overall. There is trivia. There is history. There are curious facts. And there is even a little adventure on the high seas. I personally enjoy this kind of book because I often learn more about other things besides the one item in question. A neat thing about this book is that it dispels some of the myths people may associate with rum.

Curtis' narrative is pretty easy to read, and the book as a whole is pretty entertaining. From pirates and buccaneers to Captain Morgan (the mascot; the real Captain Morgan was not a jolly fellow with a big red coat)to Ernest Hemingway and tiki bars. You get it all here. This is a book that will have you longing for some rum, and I do not mean just the mass produced varieties like Bacardi.

As a bonus, the end of the book features a section of rum drink recipes so you can try them out and add a bit more to the reading experience. So, get yourself a good bottle of rum, a sour or two, a weak or two, and a sweet or two, fix your favorite cocktail, be it Rum and Coke or a Mai Tai, and just enjoy this excellent book.
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Wow. This book combines my love of rum, with my obsession with history. Especially, pirate history, early colonial america, and the age of wooden sailing ships. Mix in Caribbean islands and historical figures, and I'm hooked. 1 for the recipes in the back! ( )

Great book, easy reading and very informative, in terms of Rum and its relationship to American history. ( )

This is how history should be: entertaining, compulsively readable, and enlightening. Curtis uses rum drinks popular in various eras to present a picture of how the world worked at that time, and the cultural reasons behind why that particular drink was popular at that particular time. ( )