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Loading... Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity| 99 | 1 | 275,223 | 
(3.43) | None | 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.… (more) |
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Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. | |
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| Epigraph |
Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. /  | |
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Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. Notre petit-fils, Max Walvin, est né alors que j'étais plongé dans le sucre ;
il a vite prouvé qu'il était la chose la plus délicieuse au monde.
Ce livre lui est dédié. | |
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Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language. Préface
Quand j'étais enfant, il y avait un kiosque à journaux juste en face de chez moi. [...] Introduction
Le sucre aujourd'hui
Comment en est-on arrivés là ? Comment des dizaines de millions de personnes dans le monde sont-elles devenues dépendantes – incapables de se passer – d'un produit, le sucre, qui comme la médecine scientifique l'a démontré sans doute possible, est néfaste ? Pour aggraver la confusion, durant l'été 2016, nous avons été bombardés de publicités louant un produit justement parce qu'il ne contenait pas de sucre. [...] Chapitre 1
Un goût millénaire
Les aliments et boissons sucrés sont connus de certaines civilisations depuis des millénaires. [...] | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions 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. ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description |
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1
The book suffers from constant repetition. While repetition throughout a book can often drive home a point or remind readers of important points and arguments, Walvin repeats certain points within chapters and even within paragraphs. I had to fight the urge to skim through many sections of the book.
The author does an excellent job describing the history of how Europe used sugar and moved it around the world as a cash crop, starting in the Mediterranean, then going to the Atlantic islands, Africa, and eventually the Caribbean and South America. Within that context, sugar is inextricably linked to slavery. Walvin provides a wealth of information about sugar plantations in the Americas and convincingly describes how Europe's demand for sugar and sugar-based products led to the Atlantic slave trade, in addition to ecological disaster.
A large section of the book is then devoted to the health problems created by sugar. He starts with a focus on the degenerative effects on teeth and finds several personal histories from previous centuries. There is then a lengthy discussion on obesity and the global health problems created by sugar.
In addition to some of the hard facts he presents, Walvin adds small notes about his own childhood delight in eating sweets. Given the dark history he presents, he should be commended for this admission, something many other authors would probably pass on, rightly, to societal factors.
The book includes a complete index and wonderful sources.
In all, "Sugar" is a very informative book. Unfortunately, it suffers from being repetitive to the point of frustration. (