CiNii Books - The history and social influence of the potato

First published in 1949, this remarkable book is the culmination of a life-long study of every aspect of the potato. Dr Salaman is concerned first with the history of the potato as a member of the botanical genus Solanum, its adaptation by man as a cultivated plant, and the record of its spread throughout the world; secondly he considers the influence the potato has exerted upon the social structure and economy of different peoples at different times. The archaeological and anthropological evidence for the early significance of the potato among the peoples of Latin America is discussed in detail with numerous illustrations, but the central portion of the book is concerned with the European, and particularly the Irish evidence. Naturally the Great Hunger is the most dramatic single episode in the entire work, and Dr Salaman does full justice to his tragic theme, concluding with the observation that in Ireland 'the potato ended in wrecking both exploited and exploiter'. Elegantly written, with numerous vivid anecdotes, Salaman's History has long enjoyed the status of a classic. This revised impression, with a new introduction and emendations by Professor J. G. Hawkes, enables another generation of readers to sample what Eric Hobsbawm has referred to as 'that magnificent monument of scholarship and humanity'.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the revised impression
Preface
Illustrations
1. Immigrant man and the Andean potato
2. The archaeological record
3. The potato in pre-Spanish Peru
4. The Inca period
5. The potatoes of America and their relation to the early European varieties
6. Early descriptions of the potato in Europe
7. 'Vertues', vices and values
8. Names and aliases
9. The introduction to Europe: the Raleigh and other legends
10. Potato varieties: past, present and future
11. The potato in Ireland in the sixteenth century
12. The potato in Ireland in the seventeenth century
13. The potato in Ireland in the eighteenth century
14. The period of Irish self-government
15. Ireland in the nineteenth century
16. The potato famine: its causes and consequences
17. The potato in post-famine Ireland
18. The potato's part in the tragedy of Ireland
19. The potato in Scotland
20. The potato in the highlands of Scotland
21 The potato in the lowlands of Scotland
22. The potato in Wales
23. The potato of Shakespeare and the Jacobeans
24. The seventeenth century: the first hundred years of the potato's progress in Great Britain
25. The eighteenth century
26. The nineteenth century and after
27. The relation between potato and bread consumption
28. The potato in Tristan de Cunha
29. The potato in St Helena
30. The potato in Jersey
31. The industrial uses of the potato
32. The potato in war-time
33. The implements of production
34. The potato in the realm of art
Epilogue
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
Note.

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The history and social influence of the potato

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