Bittersweet
Subtitle: the story of sugar
By: Peter Macinnis
Publisher: Allen & Unwin; Orion] [distributor]
Published: 2002
Place of publication: St. Leonards, N.S.W; [London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 190
ISBN-13: 9781865086576
Subjects: History; Sugar trade; Sucre; Industrie; Histoire; Sugar
Description: "Forty years after first chewing on sugar cane in New Guinea, the home of sugar, the author underwent some complex dental work as a direct result of his sweet tooth. This led him to explore sugar cane's journey from New Guinea to Shakespeare's England. In the days before dentistry, people paid dearly for this sweet new food from exotic places - Queen Elizabeth I became so partial to hippocras, sugared almonds and pastilles that her teeth turned completely black." "Bittersweet explores the effects that sugar has had on the world. This foodstuff that we take for granted - and indulge in more than we should - has caused wars and geopolitical balances that have shaped the modern world and the power balances we see in the 21st century."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The beginnings; title: The spread of sugar; title: Sugar in the New World; title: The English and the sugar business; title: Fighting over sugar; title: A science of sugar; title: Rum and politics; title: The end of slavery in the Americas; title: Emancipation's harvest; title: The rise of technology; title: Labour problems; title: Sugar in the twentieth century; title: Epilogue: the costs and benefits.