short and sweet

[Craig Clark]

Brian D. McCary writes:

> For a take on the earlier influences of sugar on world history, try
> "Seeds of Change - Five Plants that Transformed Mankind" (Henry Hobhouse,
> Harper & Row, 1987).  The role of sugar in the decimation of the 
> West Indies and in the African Slave trade is astounding.  Hobhouse
> himself is a bit priggish but well intentioned, and all five sections 
> (Quinine, Potato, Sugar Cane, Cotton, and Tea) are fascinating.  The
> quinine section is especially pertinant to the p-list, as he traces
> the origins of the German Chemical Industries (in particular the 
> dye industries) to the initial attempts to synthesize quinine.  It's history,
> but it resonates in a way similar to TRP's fiction.

What, no opium?

Craig Clark

"Living inside the system is like driving across
 the countryside in a bus driven by a maniac bent
 on suicide."
   - Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"