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26 reviews for:
Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History
Jori Lewis
3.72 AVERAGE
26 reviews for:
Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History
Jori Lewis
3.72 AVERAGE
An interesting read that had less to do with peanuts and more to do with the life of Walter Taylor, a missionary. Could have used a lot more scientific based information on the impacts of peanuts leading up to present day.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Here’s my review of this book for NPR Books. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/25/1094596037/slaves-for-peanuts-weaves-a-complex-story-crossing-time-and-oceans
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
medium-paced
The author went so deep into the historical minutiae so quickly that I lost the narrative and interest.
(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this work courtesy of NetGalley)
Until now, I was completely unaware that the humble peanut’s spread and popularity to Western Africa led to it being tightly tied up with slavery in the region. So to say the least, I greatly appreciate all of the work that Jori Lewis has put in to shining light on what appears to be an oft-overlooked chapter in slavery’s history. Slaves for Peanuts proved to be a solid, eye-opening read for me, and I am sure that it will do the same for many others, not to mention make quite a few people probably think quite differently about one of their favorite snack foods.
Until now, I was completely unaware that the humble peanut’s spread and popularity to Western Africa led to it being tightly tied up with slavery in the region. So to say the least, I greatly appreciate all of the work that Jori Lewis has put in to shining light on what appears to be an oft-overlooked chapter in slavery’s history. Slaves for Peanuts proved to be a solid, eye-opening read for me, and I am sure that it will do the same for many others, not to mention make quite a few people probably think quite differently about one of their favorite snack foods.
medium-paced
In school, what I learned about Africa in the 1800s was the end of the slave trade near the start of the century and the partitioning of Africa near the end. For fun in high school, I also read King Leopold's Ghost (highly recommend), which gave some more knowledge of what happened after the partitioning of Africa. This book fills the gap in how Europe conquered the continent.
When reading this, expect riveting politics:
- Europeans publicly argue they should control Africa to eradicate slavery, despite buying slave-made cash crops and avoiding invading those states to continue to buy such crops.
- French protestant missionaries fight for enforcing emancipation laws against the French state that wants to ignore them, and then drop the fight when money runs dry.
- An African French-protestant missionary advocates for, while also fighting against, a very white church.
- The suppliers of peanuts, mostly grown with slave labor, fight over prices with the consumers of peanut oil in Europe, as peanut oil becomes replaced by cheaper oils from India.
- A religious fanatic group (the leader sacrifices his child), conspire with other political groups, to takeover an African state.
- Farmers encounter mysterious peanut diseases
- Scientists rely on racism to claim peanuts originated in Africa against ample the evidence that they originated from South America.
I felt like I learned a lot in this book about a specific period of time and group of people. Given the title, I expected more biology and science, but it was nice and well written. If you think it might be interesting, I'd recommend it.