Potato
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Home > History and Archaeology > History > General and world history > Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent
Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent

Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent


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About the Book

The potato--humble, lumpy, bland, familiar--is a decidedly unglamorous staple of the dinner table. Or is it? John Reader's narrative on the role of the potato in world history suggests we may be underestimating this remarkable tuber. From domestication in Peru 8,000 years ago to its status today as the world's fourth largest food crop, the potato has played a starring--or at least supporting--role in many chapters of human history. In this witty and engaging book, Reader opens our eyes to the power of the potato. Whether embraced as the solution to hunger or wielded as a weapon of exploitation, blamed for famine and death or recognized for spurring progress, the potato has often changed the course of human events. Reader focuses on sixteenth-century South America, where the indigenous potato enabled Spanish conquerors to feed thousands of conscripted native people; eighteenth-century Europe, where the nutrition-packed potato brought about a population explosion; and today's global world, where the potato is an essential food source but also the world's most chemically-dependent crop. Where potatoes have been adopted as a staple food, social change has always followed. It may be "just" a humble vegetable, John Reader shows, yet the history of the potato has been anything but dull.

About the Author :
John Reader is a writer and photojournalist who holds an honorary research fellowship in the Department of Anthropology at University College London. He lives in Surrey, UK.

Review :
"John Reader's superb history traces the potato's rise from mistaken identity to the basic food now cultivated in 149 countries."--Robert Collins, "Sunday Times "--Robert Collins "Sunday Times " "A riveting new history . . ."--Toby Morison, "Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement"--Toby Morison "Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement " "A very thorough historical treatment of the tuber."--Billy Heller, "New York Post"--Billy Heller"New York Post" (03/15/2009) "John Reader''s superb history traces the potato''s rise from mistaken identity to the basic food now cultivated in 149 countries."--Robert Collins, "Sunday Times "--Robert Collins "Sunday Times " "A riveting new history . . ."Toby Morison, Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement -- Toby Morison "Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement" "A riveting new history . . ."?Toby Morison, Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement -- Toby Morison "Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement" "A riveting new history . . ." -- Toby Morison "Sunday Telegraph Stella Supplement" ." . . this accessible account embraces the latest scholarship and addresses the failings of previous works on the subject. Indeed the book, like the tuber it describes, fills a void: the spud now has the biography it deserves."-Economist ." . . a fascinating tale. You'll never eat a chip with the same indifference again."--Leslie Geddes-Brown, "Country Life" --Leslie Geddes-Brown "Country Life " ." . . rarely has this kind of thing been done so well."--Giles Foden, "Conde Nast Traveller" --Giles Foden "Conde Nast Traveller " "As a staple of the global diet, the potato is worth this digestible book . . ."--Iain Finlayson, "Times" --Iain Finlayson "Times " "Reader takes us on a kaleidoscopic journey . . . What we get . . . is a history of the world from the potato's point of view."--Willa Murphy, "Irish Times" --Willa Murphy "Irish Times " ." . . a fascinating tale. You''ll never eat a chip with the same indifference again."--Leslie Geddes-Brown, "Country Life" --Leslie Geddes-Brown "Country Life "


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780300141092
  • Publisher: Yale University Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Yale University Press
  • Height: 234 mm
  • No of Pages: 336
  • Spine Width: 27 mm
  • Weight: 649 gr
  • ISBN-10: 0300141092
  • Publisher Date: 01 Mar 2009
  • Binding: Hardback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: N
  • Sub Title: A History of the Propitious Esculent
  • Width: 167 mm


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