Book Alert / Rum

Yep, this is a book about rum. You got a problem with that?? There's something refreshing about coming upon a book dealing with a narrow subject by an author, enthusiastic about his theme, and focused on telling you why his topic is a lot more important than you think it is. A few recent books come to mind -- this season's The Lobster Chronicles or Mark Kurlansky's volumes on Cod and Salt. As a hardened New Englander, I think there's even room for a book on Salt Cod.

But I digress. Let's get back to Ian Williams's new Rum -- A Social and Sociable History ofthe Real Spirit of 1776. Williams, the Nation's United Nations correspondent, clearly intends to have a good time with his subject, all the while imparting some significant information. He apologizes in acknowledgements for not mentioning some of his sources by name -- "...it is in the nature of such research that memories for names become a  little hazy." Yet his narrative itself is thoroughly documented, with full index, bibliography and notes.

It's a treat to see Williams debunk such stiffnecked colonists as George Washington and John and Abigail Adams, to whom rum had an honored place at the table. But, in fact, rum was a lot more important than that -- it was, he says, as important in colonial times as oil is in our century and essentially became a commodity in trade, development and negotiation and so helped shape what America  was to become. Kirkus Reviews calls it a "Rambunctious, rollicking history, sodden with tasty lore."