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Overview
The Potato tells the story of how a humble vegetable, once regarded as trash food, had as revolutionary an impact on Western history as the railroad or the automobile. Using Ireland, England, France, and the United States as examples, Larry Zuckerman shows how daily life from the 1770s until World War I would have been unrecognizable-perhaps impossible-without the potato, which functioned as fast food, famine insurance, fuel and labor saver, budget stretcher, and bank loan, as well as delicacy. Drawing on personal diaries, contemporaneous newspaper accounts, and other primary sources, this is popular social history at its liveliest and most illuminating.
Synopsis
The Potato tells the story of how a humble vegetable, once regarded as trash food, had as revolutionary an impact on Western history as the railroad or the automobile. Using Ireland, England, France, and the United States as examples, Larry Zuckerman shows how daily life from the 1770s until World War I would have been unrecognizable-perhaps impossible-without the potato, which functioned as fast food, famine insurance, fuel and labor saver, budget stretcher, and bank loan, as well as delicacy. Drawing on personal diaries, contemporaneous newspaper accounts, and other primary sources, this is popular social history at its liveliest and most illuminating.
Booknews
Despite Ireland's Great Famine and terms like "couch potato," Seattle writer Zuckerman extols the pivotal role of the "treasure of the Andes" in Western history from the 16th through 20th century. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
Booknews
Despite Ireland's Great Famine and terms like "couch potato," Seattle writer Zuckerman extols the pivotal role of the "treasure of the Andes" in Western history from the 16th through 20th century. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Emily Gordon
Thorough and lively . . . Zuckerman is an excellent storyteller.— Newsday
Johathan Yardley
Informative . . . To single [the potato] out as the salvation of the world as we know it is . . . not, as this book proves, preposterous.— The Washington Post
Katherine A. Powers
The story of the potato in Western civilization is part of the history of the table, of living conditions, of social attitudes, and even of views of heredity and degeneration. Zuckerman's exploration of these areas . . . is masterful, executed with economy and wit.— The Boston Sunday Globe