Sugar : the world corrupted : from slavery to obesity
James Walvin (Author)
"How did a simple commodity, once the prized monopoly of kings and princes, become an essential ingredient in the lives of millions, before mutating yet again into the cause of a global health epidemic? Prior to 1600, sugar was a costly luxury, the domain of the rich. But with the rise of the sugar colonies in the New World over the following century, sugar became cheap, ubiquitous and an everyday necessity. Less than fifty years ago, few people suggested that sugar posed a global health problem. And yet today, sugar is regularly denounced as a dangerous addiction, on a par with tobacco. . . . Acclaimed historian James Walvin looks at the history of our collective sweet tooth, beginning with the sugar grown by enslaved people who had been uprooted and shipped vast distances to undertake the grueling labor on plantations. The combination of sugar and slavery would transform the tastes of the Western world."--Dust jacket
Print Book, English, 2018
First Pegasus Books hardcover edition View all formats and editions
Pegasus Books, Ltd., New York, NY, 2018
Nonfiction
xxiv, 325 pages ; 24 cm
9781681776774, 9781643132303, 1681776774, 164313230X
1029733597
Introduction : Sugar in our time
A traditional taste
The march of decay
Sugar and slavery
Environmental impact
Shopping for sugar
A perfect match for tea and coffee
Pandering to the palate
Rum makes its mark
Sugar goes global
The sweetening of America
Power shifts in the New World
A sweeter war and peace
Obesity matters
The way we eat now
Hard truth about soft drinks
Turning the tide
beyond the sugar tax
Conclusion : Bitter-sweet prospects
"April 2018"--Title page verso