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Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind | 
 enlarge | Author: Henry Hobhouse
Publisher: Shoemaker & Hoard
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
Buy New: $10.88
You Save: $5.12 (32%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 55287
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1593760493
Dewey Decimal Number: 581.6309
EAN: 9781593760496
ASIN: 1593760493
Publication Date: November 22, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
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Product Description
A personal and highly original take on the history of six commercial plants, Seeds of Change illuminates how sugar, tea, cotton, the potato, quinine, and the cocoa plant have shaped our past. In this fascinating account, the impassioned Henry Hobhouse explains the consequences of these plants with attention-grabbing historical moments. While most records of history focus on human influence, Hobhouse emphasizes how plants too are a central and influential factor in the historical process. Seeds of Change is a captivating and invaluable addition to our understanding of modern culture.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 This book is ahistorical July 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
For my research at this time, I only read the section on sugar. This section was filled with historical errors and biased, prejudiced language. Very few of his interpretations were orthodox. . He lumped all Arabs together as always having a low opinion of physical work. Furthermore, according to Hobhouse, they have all enjoyed making trade agreements, all the time. He cited Arabs as having been partly responsible for African race-based slave trade. This was not accurate; Europeans did not use intermediaries at this point in history. He further cited these same men of mixed "Arab-Negro" decent as having been solely responsible for the shift to only using African slaves. Although the validity of this was questioned, a statement of this nature needed citations, for which he provided none. He also used vivid descriptions that in context of everything else he said contributed to negative stereotypes, for example, that slaves were "pinned like a pig to await a buyer." In an effort to make the destruction of Africans more normal or acceptable, Hobhouse said that it should be remembered that white Europeans had short, nasty life spans, too. Even if this had some truth, he ignored the fact that Africans had absolutely no choice of coming to the Americas. To him only Europe and North America constituted the civilized world during the age of slavery. When discussing the declining Native populations and their relationship to involuntary labor, Hobhouse neglected to mention the New Laws of 1541. When discussing abolition efforts he cited the economic theory of mercantilism, not inhumanity, as having been the only reason slavery was abolished. Even here he ignored slave rebellions and slave resistance. What about the Haitian revolution? Furthermore, to him Maroons were only fierce Africans who caused trouble. Maroons had every reason to be rebellious. To Hobhouse, slaves only produced one-tenth of their value, thus not being economical. Hobhouse concluded by saying Cuba and other Latin American countries have been dependent on the world for their survival. He further stated these countries have never tried to be independent and that they have had an absence of respect for hard work and its reward of profits. What if Latin American countries have not wanted to buy into the European/North American concept of needing profits and money? I would stay away from this book.
 His own way with words April 14, 2002
18 out of 23 found this review helpful
This book consists of a collection of historical essays about six plants: quinine, sugar, tea, cotton, the potato, and coca. For each plant, the author provides historical information about when it first began to be used (especially by Westerners), and how its use spread across the planet. Some of the information was quite interesting, particularly since the author is British and presents the material from a British point-of-view, emphasizing facts that may be less familiar to Americans. Unfortunately, no in-text citations are provided, but there is a short bibliography at the end of the book. The essays often spill over into topics that are, at best, only marginally related to the subject at hand, such as an overview of Japanese foreign trade in the tea chapter, or the role of corn whiskey in the economy of the Southern states in the early Nineteenth Century in the cotton chapter. Hobhouse has an interesting habit of giving his own meaning to words, such when he defines "Negro" as being a West African Black with sickle cell anemia, or "husbandry" as applying to plant breeding. He also uses the term "slavocracy" to refer to the political situation in the pre-Civil War South, presumably on analogy with "democracy" and "theocracy", but in those words, the first root identifies the rulers, not the ruled. This book may provide a light introduction to some of the topics covered, but I wouldn't rely on it for serious study of an academic nature.
 An insightful book January 30, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I havn't read this book in a while but came across an editorial by Hobhouse recently and I thought I'd check to see if it's still in print. I recall some rather strange notions about our 'current' lack of fiber in our diet and the dire effect it may have, but in most areas where he dosn't range too far afield it's a good read. A reader above found the book racist but I don't recall anything like that. If you like Hobhouse try to dig up Edgar Andersons ' ' Plants Man and Life'. Not an inspired title but a very good book as well.
An insightful book January 30, 2002
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I havn't read this book in a while but came across an editorial by Hobhouse recently and I thought I'd check to see if it's still in print. I recall some rather strange notions about our 'current' lack of fiber in our diet and the dire effect it may have, but in most areas where he dosn't range too far afield it's a good read. A reader above found the book racist but I don't recall anything like that. If you like Hobhouse try to dig up Edgar Andersons ' ' Plants Man and Life'. Not an inspired title but a very good book as well.
Important book - but read with a critical mind. March 1, 2001
10 out of 16 found this review helpful
Hobhouse is a must for anyone interested in history (particularly environmental history). He provides a new perspective to parts of history that we often don't question. However, reader beware - Hobhouse is an overt racist. Don't take everything he says at face value and be prepared to "toss off" the inflamatory remarks that are sprinkled throughout the book. While an important book, the chapters are poorly organized. Hobhouse attempts to tackle immense topics ("macrohistory") in limited space. He skips around and does not follow a linear format in making his arguments. Be prepared to step back and look at the big picture - he goes on many tangents that, while interesting, he fails to link directly back to his argument. Despite its faults, the book is well recommended - certainly provocative.
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