Following is a review of a book I read when writing my article about Work, Life & Family in the Industrious Revolution, published in the September 2021 issue of Family Tree (UK) magazine. The book is Sweetness and Power: The place of sugar in modern history, by Sidney W. Mintz. I thought readers of this blog might be interested.
This is not a new book. It was first published in 1985, but it has relevance even 36 years later, perhaps especially to family historians who are interested in how the world changed during the last 500 years and how those changes impacted their ancestors and society in general.
Sidney Wilfred
Mintz (1922-2015) was an anthropologist whose research primarily centred around
the people of the Caribbean, creolization and food. During his long career, he
taught at both Yale University and Johns Hopkins University and was a feature
lecturer around the world.
This book
is about the importance of sugar in the transformation of the world’s economy
and, of course, diet. Mintz describes the history of the commodity, from all
sides of the industry from production to consumption, the resultant societal
changes, and controls by political establishments.
Slavery was
a major part of the production of sugar and the growth, processing and
distribution of the product central to colonial development.
He
discusses, among other important events, the intrusion of sugar into diets,
particularly in England, and the ensuing disruption of eating habits, family
member interactions and altered work patterns. Such changes were coincident
with and impactful on families prior to and during the Industrial Revolution. As
the publisher asserts, the introduction and prolific use of “sugar has altered
work patterns, eating habits and our diet” right into modern times.
Sweet tea,
for example, became a major part of the English diet and central to
industrialization as it was a way to get high energy sustenance in relatively
low volumes of drink, that was easily made, carried and consumed by factory
workers. Is expansion transformed the workplace, home life, culture and
society.
As Mintz
said in his summary, “the track sugar has left in modern history is one
involving masses of people and resources, thrown into productive combination by
social, economic, and political forces that were actively re-making the entire
world.”
The book is
wonderfully readable, entertaining and informative.
Published by Penguin Books, ISBN 9780140092332, and available from many booksellers as well as online through Amazon.co.uk for £9.99 (plus applicable shipping costs) or £7.99 for the Kindle version (also available at varying prices from amazon.com, amazon,ca and amazon.com.au).
