Book Review: Cigars: a Biography

Aaron Sigmond, Cigars: a Biography. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2025. ISBN: 9781510784697

Genre: art and photography

Subgenre: history, popular culture

Format: e-book galley

Source: Netgalley 

This is a beautiful and ambitious coffee table book that looks at the culture and history of cigars in the world. The publisher describes it as "more than just a reference book-- it's a travelogue, an anthology, a photographic monograph, and a historical narrative rolled into one." That is a pretty accurate statement as the book strives to be comprehensive. It covers a lot of ground. From history to the agriculture to the luxury culture of cigars, the book presents a lot of material. 

The book is pretty well written. For me, the best parts are the stories about the entrepreneurs, rogues, and workers who took tobacco and turned it into the luxury item enjoyed by celebrities and common folk alike. Some of the more technical information in the book can be a little dense. Overall, this is a book to read a bit at a time, take your time with it much like you would with a cigar. 

The photography throughout the book is gorgeous and very evocative. The photographer has a good eye, and the photos just take you to the locations. They also do a good job humanizing the people, especially the workers. 

So who is this book for? First, this is a book for cigar aficionados and connoisseurs. This will be a great addition to their shelves and/or coffee tables. Second, for readers who enjoy coffee table books with excellent photography. Let's be honest: any readers pick up a coffee table book for the photos, and the photos in this book are very good. Third, libraries. I would recommend the book for libraries with strong art and photography collections. It may also be of interest for collections in history, business, and pop culture. Larger academic and public libraries may find it of interest too. 

Overall, I really liked it, but it can be a bit dense at times. Beautiful photos make it a pleasure to view it. This is a book to get in print. An e-reader may not do it justice. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

 

Additional reading notes: 

On cigar mysticism. I felt the following line was a little pretentious, good as it is. Then again, cigars are often a pretentious hobby: 

"The umami mysticism of the world's best cigars stems from the fact that they come from what are, to most of the world, tropical far-off lands. Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras: These nations loom larger in the imagination than even France, Italy, or Scotland do." 

 

Another nice line from the book:  

"Life, they say, is a journey. A cigar-- a good hand-rolled, carefully blended, preferably aged cigar, itself an enduring symbol of an antiquarian craft-- is a journey as well. A cigar, if you allow it, will tell you a story." 

The book also includes a good bibliography. A few titles from that list I may want to read down the road: 

• Baldrich, Juan Jose, Smoker Beyond the Sea: the Story of Puerto Rican Tobacco. (2022). 
• Garcia-Goyco, Osvaldo, Mayan and Aztec Influences on the Tainos of the Greater Antilles (1984). I actually have this book. My parents got it for me back around the time it came out; as a young boy I had an interest in history and culture, and something like Maya influences was right up my alley. I still have the book; I may need to revisit it. Note book lacks a WorldCat record. 
• Sigmond Aaron and Kolakowski, Nick, Playboy: the Book of Cigars (2010).

 

 

 

This book qualifies for the following 2025 Reading Challenge: