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Title: The Potato : How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World by Larry Zuckerman ISBN: 0-86547-578-4 Publisher: North Point Press Pub. Date: 25 October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Both great and disappointing
Comment: While i really liked this book and found it full of useful information and insightful analysis, i also found the book very disappointing.
I was disappointed by his treatment of the pre-Colombian aspects of the potato's history. We find out little about the origins of the potato, its importance and uses in pre-Colombian South America, etc. (They are part of the Western World) We also find little about the potato itself. The book is Eurocentric and just a social history. These are both shortcomings of the book and strengths.
Zuckerman, who writes quite well, provides us with a tremendous social history of the potato in a few countries: France, England, Ireland and the US. The book ranges far and weaves a complex historical story with great explanations. Just the discussion on how social attitudes towards the potato is worth the cost of the book. I would recommend this book, but be forewarned that it is a limited social history.
Rating: 4
Summary: A strong case for potato power.
Comment: One of the interesting things Zuckerman notes in this four century social history is the hard time the venerable vegetable has had in the court of public opinion over the years. Such holdovers from days gone by exist in modern pejorative terms like "couch potato" and "potato head." Nonetheless, valuable insights can be learned from this book, and students of history as well as education can glean useful nuggets for their disciplines.
Originally a product of the New World, the potato was slow in gaining acceptance in Europe. Interestingly, one of the reasons for its slow acceptance was the fact that it grew in the ground. Falling under the category of "nightshade," superstitious peasants were loathe to eat it. Conversely, after the Irish began consuming it in mass, and their population exploded, it was opined that potatoes perhaps assisted virility.
Wheat, barley, and rye were more established crops, and Zuckerman examines the slow inroads potatoes made in France, England, Ireland, and eventually America. The French were encouraged to supplement their crops with the tuber by Antoine Augustin Parmentier throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Parmentier made acceptance of the potato and the abolition of various negative myths surrounding it one of his callings in life. In England, food was accorded rank among the classes, as were many other aspects of British life. Since the upper classes ate only wheat bread, the poor insisted on the same, and efforts to supplement the diet of both were many years in progressing. Most intriguing were government efforts to influence the growth of various crops. In Ireland, potatoes had a slightly easier time when it was discovered they could easily be prepared and eaten, and the scraps could help feed livestock. But the country which accepted potatoes most readily, with few problems concerning superstition and class envy, was the United States. Somewhere in there is a generalization that can be drawn concerning the "bold experiment" and her colonial parents.
Ultimately, of course, potatoes helped cushion the impact of famines in Europe. Later when populaces were more dependant on the tuber and the potato crops failed, wide-scale starvation ensued, often triggering mass migrations to America. In the end, Zuckerman makes a strong case for the power the potato has wielded on European and American civilization. Without it, the entire course of our recent history would not be the same.
Rating: 4
Summary: You Say Po-tay-to, And I Say Po-tah-to.............
Comment: Don't let the corny (ouch!) title put you off: this is a serious look at the historical place of the potato in England, Ireland, France and the United States. And if you are concerned that 271 pages on the "humble spud" might put you into a stupor, you might breathe easier when you know that Mr. Zuckerman uses the potato as a starting point to examine lots of other stuff: class distinctions; agricultural landlords and tenant farmers; urbanization; women and domestic drudgery; the role of bread (ouch again!) vs. the role of the potato, etc. Mr. Zuckerman even finds the time, near the end of the book, to incorporate some philosophical musings on the positive and negative aspects of "fast-food" and its relationship to our "hurry-up society." To me, one of the best things about the book was the multi-cultural approach: it was interesting to see how much more quickly the potato caught-on in the United States than it did in France, England and Ireland (where the centuries-old custom of strict reliance on bread had to be overcome). Another interesting thing to read about was the amazement of foreign visitors concerning the variety of the American diet. We tend to forget that in Europe, in the period this book primarily deals with (1700-1900), the average person lived on bread, porridge, and soup. (One of the many interesting facts presented in this book is that up until almost 1900 most French peasants had a morning bowl of soup rather than a cup of coffee.) You were indeed fortunate if you had meat, milk, butter, eggs, coffee, etc. Even if a peasant farmer owned a cow, pig, or chicken, quite often the food products the animals supplied had to be sold, to provide some much-needed cash. The book provides a very nice combination of scholarly data(economic and sociological information) and anecdotal material. To be honest, the book was a "heavier" read than I anticipated, but the interesting "factoids" helped to lighten and liven things up. Some examples: soup was so prevalent in 19th century France that in one district it is documented that some people had wooden tables with rounded depressions carved into them. As Mr. Zuckerman writes, this "removed the need for plates and [also] any doubt about the menu."; soup was also used as a "bread-softener." Due to poor quality grain and inefficient ovens, the crust of bread was often as hard as a rock. Some people couldn't cut the bread with a knife- they had to use a saw; finally, in 19th century London a common sight was the "baked 'tato man," who sold his product from a cart on the sidewalk- similar to today's hot dog, pretzel, and chestnut vendors. But the interesting thing about the "baked 'tato man" was that, in the cold weather, he would suggest to the gentleman-half of a passing couple that he buy a baked potato to keep his sweetheart warm. The author writes, "This advice was often taken, and the potato placed inside her muff." Food for warmth, and this fine book provides much food for thought, as well.
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Title: Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 0142001619 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 28 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 0140275010 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe, Michael D. Coe ISBN: 0500282293 Publisher: Thames & Hudson Pub. Date: October, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by Iain Gately ISBN: 0802117058 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 09 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky ISBN: 0140298517 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: February, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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