Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (992 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0143037226 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 432 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-05-23 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Cod and Salt, this endlessly revealing book reminds us that the fiber we think of as ordinary is the world's most powerful cash crop, and that it has shaped the destiny of nations. Ranging from its domestication 5,500 years ago to its influence in creating Calvin Klein's empire and the Gap, Stephen Yafa's Cotton gives us an intimate look at the plant that fooled Columbus into thinking he'd reached India, that helped start the Industrial Revolution as well as the American Civil War, and that made at least one bug—the boll weevil—world famous. A sweeping chronicle of ingenuity, greed, conflict, and opportunism, Cotton offers "a barrage of fascinating information" (Los Angeles Times).
. Stephen Yafa, a novelist, playwright, and award-winning screenwriter, has written for Playboy, Details, Rolling Stone, and the San Francisco Chronicle
This book doesn't do justice to the title. Too bad! I worked in the textile machinery business for many years, and so I was very much aware of cotton in all its' grades and various uses in the modern world. Intrigued, I explored cotton further and I was fascinated to learn the history of textiles in general and of cotton in particular. I hoped this book would offer an informed overview of cotton.But no. The book has some snippets of interesting information about cotton, but only in passing. An inordinate amount of text is spent talking (not discussing) modern, trendy and transient uses of c. Bashing Europeans, Americans and capitalism in tne name of history. If you like the Howard Zinn school of history writing, you'll probably like this. I'm don't, and I didn't.. This is an excellent book. It is well researched and written in This is an excellent book. It is well researched and written in such a way that the average reader can follow the information. Born and raised in the South, I learned so much about the way in which cotton influenced the entire country before and during the Civil War. Got a completely different view of the "how" and "why" of the conflict. Thanks.
Cotton rules." —The Wall Street Journal"With wit and intelligence, Yafa demonstrates how a good deal of history can be learned by following a single thread." —The Washington Post"A comprehensive and often surprising history of a crop that changed the world." —USA Today. "I have to hand it to Mr. Yafa