Sweetness and Power
The Place of Sugar in Modern History
Penguin Publishing Group · Print & ebook · August 5, 1986
A fascinating persuasive history of how sugar has shaped the world, from European colonies to our modern diets In this eye-opening study, Sidney Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry.
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- Who it’s for
- A compact history of sugar that turns familiar sweetness into a sharper way of seeing power.
- Genres
- Social History, Economic History, Agriculture & Food Systems
- Published
- Penguin Publishing Group, August 5, 1986
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A fascinating persuasive history of how sugar has shaped the world, from European colonies to our modern diets In this eye-opening study, Sidney Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry.
Continue reading
He discusses the production and consumption of sugar, and reveals how closely interwoven are sugar's origins as a "slave" crop grown in Europe's tropical colonies with is use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat. Finally, he considers how sugar has altered work patterns, eating habits, and our diet in modern times. "Like sugar, Mintz is persuasive, and his detailed history is a real treat." -San Francisco Chronicle
Sugar, Reconsidered
A compact history of sugar that turns familiar sweetness into a sharper way of seeing power.
Come here for
- sugar as a lens on modern history
- cultural talk-starts with some bite
Expect
- history with a cultural-studies edge
- serious but readable, not dusty
Where it sits
| Economic History | 36% |
|---|---|
| Agriculture & Food Systems | 33% |
| Social History | 33% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Caribbean History
- Social History
- Sociology
- Authors
- Sidney W. Mintz
- Publisher
- Penguin Publishing Group
- Published
- August 5, 1986
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Caribbean History