Böcker av Sidney W. Mintz

A fascinating persuasive history of how sugar has shaped the world, from European colonies to our modern dietsIn this eye-opening study, Sidney Mintz shows how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how it changed the history of capitalism and industry. He discusses the production and consumption of sugar, and reveals how closely interwoven are sugar's origins as a "slave" crop grown in Europe's tropical colonies with is use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat. Finally, he considers how sugar has altered work patterns, eating habits, and our diet in modern times."Like sugar, Mintz is persuasive, and his detailed history is a real treat." -San Francisco Chronicle

As a young anthropologist, the author undertook fieldwork in Jamaica, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. This title presents a summation of his work in the region and is a reminder of how anthropology allows people to explore the deep truths that history may leave unexamined.

This is the absorbing story of Don Taso, a Puerto Rican sugar cane worker, and of his family and the village in which he lives. Told largely in his own words, it is a vivid account of the drastic changes taking place in Puerto Rico, as he sees them.

This representative selection of Lesser's work is designed to make the range of his writings accessible to a broad audience.