Sugar - A Bittersweet History
Sugar A Bitter Sweet History
| Author | Elizabeth Abbott |
| ISBN13 | 9780715638781 |
| Published | 2009 |
| Published Price | Stg£20.00 |
| Publisher | Duckworth Publishers |
| Type | Book |
Sugar - A Bittersweet History is a look at the use and production of sugar from the earliest days, with a detailed look at the slavery element that went hand in hand with sugar production in the West Indies.
Sugar started life as a luxury for the nobility only - its use by the lower orders developed over time, aided by the adding of sugar to tea and coffee as a sweetener and in the production of rum.
A significant part of the book (7 out of 12 chapters) is given over to the interaction between slavery and sugar, up to and including the abolition of slavery. These chapters alone are well worth reading as an introduction to this evil practice.
The image painted by the author of the sugar plantation owners in the West Indies is (justifiably) unflattering and she maintains that it was only by the use of slavery and protectionism by the British Crown that these plantations were "economic" entities. As a result, when slavery was abolished, it was a long drawn out process rather than a big bang, to allow Britain's interests to adapt slowly to the new world order.
The text is interspersed with many illustrations and provided you can avoid flushes of anger over the descriptions of barbaric practices meted out to slaves, it is a book well worth reading.
