In Smoker beyond the Sea: The Story of Puerto Rican Tobacco, Juan José Baldrich presents a detailed, comprehensive history of the Puerto Rican “tobacco world,” an apt framework for a history that encompasses not only the cultivation and manufacturing processes but colonialism, activism, and struggle. Baldrich efficiently narrates the development of the tobacco sector as an important economic venture for the people of Puerto Rico, beginning with the Taíno and ending with the resurgence in tobacco cultivation and cigar production found on the island today. Scholars of the tobacco economy have typically concentrated on either the agricultural portion (cultivation, drying, and curing) or the industrial process (stemming, rolling, and packaging) and its related topics, such as the organization of labor, market forces, and institutional policy. Baldrich manages to include in his book both the agricultural and the industrial processes and interweaves themes of social class, gender, religion, and labor....
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