Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 12
 Plant influences on World History December 24, 2000
David E. Feinberg (Blodgett, Or)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Totally fascinating. Reminds me of Howard Zim's People's History of the United States. Lot's of facts, figure, and dates without being overwelming, with good continuity throughout the various sections. There is so much about the forces on world history that we don't understand. Would the world have been without widespread Black slavery if there had been no sugar and cotton plantations? What would Africa and the United States be like now? Would China have become a major world power in the 19th century if it had not been for the tea and opium trade? Very thoughtful. I listened to a books-on-tape version from the local library and want to get copies for friends and family.
Not a Reader? Read This and Grow December 13, 2000
Cary R Nunnally (Newport News, VA United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read this book 10 years ago and am still savoring it. You may not be a history buff nor a gardener, but this book is as readble as any airport novel, and has the added pow of self-enrichment. No one who reads it will be wasting their time. -from a non-intellectual
Hobhouse's Unvaring Modes of Excellence December 10, 1999
Prof. James E. McGregor (Foxboro, MA)
33 out of 35 found this review helpful
On first reading of H. Hobhouse's Seeds of Change, it covered only 5 plants. So finding that he had added Cocoa was a surprise. It was also a pleasure. As before Henry has done a great job. He has taken his insights of the changes caused by these plants further in his book FORCES OF CHANGE. As with Jim Burke's CONNECTIONS, Mr. Hobhouse has done an excellent job in presenting the hidden impact of the biologicals over the last several hundred years. Our generations are seeing the immense impact of the Internet. His doumentation of the impact of plants which led to "Forces of Change" had still not been adequately treated in tech and in academic forums. We are still "snowblind" on the global impacts of so many things. It is not surprising that the rapid changes are still obscured by the dust of change. Ultimately, however, I think that H. Hobhouse's contribution to "systemic insights" will be an excellent clarifier of the values of our times as well as the differentials of the last half millenium.
 Five economically important plants from a historical view September 13, 1999
Dennis Littrell (SoCal)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
If James M. Cain wrote history, this is the style he would employ.
Hobhouse's terse, unflowered prose moves the narrative along, and he
has an an attitude: cynical. If you liked Marvin Harris and Jared
Diamond, and I know you did, you'll like Henry Hobhouse because he has
a similar myth-exploding, cant-debasing, and finely tuned BS detector
a-working.The five plants are quinine, the potato, sugar cane,
cotton, and tea. He's a little thin on the properties of the plants,
but strong on the historical consequences. His explanation of why
slavery died and why it remains a dead institution is excellent. (NOT
because it is immoral, although it is that, but because slavery is
inefficient, economically speaking.) Beware some unusual syntax.
A unique view on the key drivers of recent human history December 8, 1998
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Hobhouse presents a unique, entertaining view how much of recent human history - the last 500 years - has been driven by the sugar, quinine, tea, cotton, and the potato. Thouroughly researched, and very insightful. And.. Blissfully free of the PC'ness of academia which makes many recent works unreadable. It is a shame that such a book is out of print - but many local libraries seem to have a copy
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