The History and Social Influence of the Potato

by Redcliffe N. Salaman , Edited by J. G. Hawkes

• ISBN13: 9780521316231
• ISBN10: 0521316235
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1985-11-27
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

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.