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The History of Sugar

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The History of Sugar

Written by: Kelley Fanto Deetz, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Kelley Fanto Deetz
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About this listen

Call it dextrose, fructose, maltose, or sucrose. Have it powdered or granulated, by the teaspoon or cube, dark brown or light brown, refined or raw. Taste it in a thick slice of birthday cake, a palmful of chocolate candies, or a snifter of dark rum.

Whatever the form, whatever the treat - sugar drives us wild like nothing else. It’s lingered on our tongues for millennia and found its way into almost every household in the world.

Alas, the history of sugar is far from sweet. Long before it was linked to America’s obesity epidemic, sugar was fueling the dark forces of exploitation, colonization, conquest, and slavery. More than just candy and cake, sugar has drastically altered the diets, cultures, and economies of the modern world. How can we love sugar while having a healthy relationship with its bittersweet history?

From the earliest cultivation of sugarcane in Asia, to the brutal conditions on colonial sugar plantations, to the multibillion-dollar industry that dominates our grocery aisles today, The History of Sugar offers you a host of surprising insights into human nature. As historian Kelley Fanto Deetz reveals in her fascinating Audible Original, our relationship to this commodity showcases its incredible capacity to lure, to addict, to transform humans to bow to its sweetness at almost all costs - and still bring us together in moments of undeniably delicious joy and celebration.

©2021 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.
World World History
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a must 👌 listen

you have to listen or read 📚 this book to have a good understanding of history, life and human greed.

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A Spoonful of Sugar: A History

This was a really interesting course discussing such a mundane thing as sugar. Because it's so prevalent in our lives (which is sorta the lecturer's point) who would ever give thought to how it came to be or the bloody history is sowed?

Definitely worth the listen!

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Powerful information!

Loved the history included. Every one should listen to or read this book. Loved the great reading voice of the narrator/author also.

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History Lesson

Eye opening look into the history of Sugar as a commodity and it's connection to slavery in North America.

Some chapters were so interesting I could not stop listening - others were a bit boring.

Overall - a great short listen.

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