Published by University Press of Florida.

On Dec 10, 2005, at 2:34 PM, Frederick H. Smith wrote:

> Dear ADHS members, as a long-time member of the ADHS (formerly  
> ATHG) I wanted to announce the publication of my book Caribbean  
> Rum: A Social and Economic History (Gainesville: University Press  
> of Florida). The listserve discussions over the years have been  
> insightful and my book showcases the work of my many ADHS  
> colleagues. Please read the summary below. Thank you. Sincerely,  Fred
>
>
> Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History
> by Frederick H. Smith
>
> Details: 368 pages     6x9
> Cloth: $59.95   ISBN: 0-8130-2867-1
> Pubdate: 11/26/05
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> --
> Overview
> "The most significant contribution to the history of Caribbean rum  
> since John McCusker's Rum and the American Revolution. . . . It  
> adds significantly to McCusker’s work by analyzing the Caribbean  
> environment in greater depth and by bringing the story forward by  
> two centuries."--Anthony P. Maingot, Florida International University
>
> Christopher Columbus brought sugarcane to the New World on his  
> second voyage. By 1520 commercial sugar production was underway in  
> the Caribbean, along with the perfection of methods to ferment and  
> distill alcohol from sugarcane to produce a new beverage that would  
> have dramatic impact on the region. Caribbean Rum presents the  
> fascinating cultural, economic, and ethnographic history of rum in  
> the Caribbean from the colonial period to the present.
>
> Drawing on data from historical archaeology and the economic  
> history of the Caribbean, Frederick Smith explains why this  
> industry arose in the islands, how attitudes toward alcohol  
> consumption have impacted the people of the region, and how rum  
> production evolved over 400 years from a small colonial activity to  
> a multi-billion-dollar industry controlled by multinational  
> corporations. He investigates the economic impact of Caribbean rum  
> on many scales, including rum's contribution to sugarcane  
> plantation revenues, its role in bolstering colonial and  
> postcolonial economies, and its impact on Atlantic trade. Smith  
> discusses the political and economic trends that determined the  
> value of rum, especially war, competition from other alcohol  
> industries, slavery and emancipation, temperance movements, and  
> globalization.
>
> The book also examines the social and sacred uses of rum and  
> identifies the forces that shaped alcohol use in the Caribbean. It  
> shows how levels of drinking and drunken deportment reflected  
> underlying social tensions, which were driven by the coercive  
> exploitation of labor and set within a highly contentious hierarchy  
> based on class, race, gender, religion, and ethnic identity, and  
> how these tensions were magnified by epidemic disease, poor living  
> conditions, natural disasters, international conflicts, and  
> unstable food supplies.
>
> Frederick H. Smith is assistant professor of anthropology at The  
> College of William and Mary and a contributor to Alcohol and  
> Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia.
>
>
>
> ------
> Frederick H. Smith
> Assistant Professor
> College of William and Mary
> Department of Anthropology
> Washington Hall
> PO Box 8795
> Williamsburg, VA   23187
>
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Phone: 757-221-1063
>