Why read Deadly Medicine?

Book cover of Deadly Medicine

Book description

"An important work of scholarship, with powerful, concise, and objective insights into the complicated history of alcohol use among Native American peoples. Impeccably researched, cogently argued and clearly written, Peter Mancall's book is both an eye-opener for the lay reader and an invaluable resource for the expert."- Michael Dorris, author…

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Native American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Deadly Medicine as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Frederick H. Smith

Author

Mancall’s background as an economic historian of the Atlantic world provides an interesting take on early interactions between European colonists and Native Americans in the early New World colonies. As an anthropologist, I am always pleased to see historians, especially economic historians, integrate ethnographic evidence and anthropological literature into their research.

In this book, Mancall explores the way rum and other alcoholic beverages connected Native peoples in North America to broader Atlantic markets. Moreover, Mancall highlights the way rum connected the plight of enslaved peoples in the Caribbean to the plight of Native peoples in colonial North America.

From Frederick's list on The best books on Caribbean rum and the making of the modern world.