Originally published as: Propitious esculent. London : William Heinemann, 2008.

South America -- To Mars from the Andes -- What exactly is a potato? -- Domestication -- Whence have they come? -- A dainty dish -- Europe -- The lonely impulse of delight -- The way it was -- The demoralising esculent -- Where the praties grow -- Seeds of famine -- Woe the sons of Adam! -- The world -- The fatal malady -- Co-opting science -- Men on a mission -- Global voyage -- Developing worlds -- For the price of apples.

HKBU Library

Photojournalist Reader (Africa: A Biography of the Continent) traces the humble potato from its roots in the Peruvian Andes to J.R. Simplot's multibillion-dollar-a-year French fry business. Despite its predilection to disease, the potato is a highly adaptable, high-yield, and nutrient-packed foodstuff. While this title focuses primarily on the potato's presence in South America and Europe, it also touches on Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and China-currently the world's largest producer and consumer of potatoes. Verdict: Curiously little attention is paid to the tuber's contributions to the culinary and beverage landscape; the UK subtitle of this work, "The Potato in World History," provides a more accurate description of the focus of the text.