Cotton : the biography of a revolutionary fiber
Stephen H. Yafa (Author)
What do lipstick, gunpowder, crackers, and paper money have in common? In a word, cotton - at any given time practically everyone on Earth is wearing or using or eating something made with it. From its domestication some 5,500 years ago to its vast conrol today over our government policies, this is the incredible story of the crop that spawned the Industrial Revolution, sparked the American Civil War, and made at least one bug - the boll weevil - world famous. Circling the globe and cutting across centuries, Cotton is the epic tale of the humble fiber that - again and again - reinvented our world. (Publisher)
History
xiv, 398 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 20 cm
9780143037224, 0143037226
70160003
Spun in all directions
Star turns
The barber from Preston
Revolutionary fiber
Camelot on the Merrimack
Looming conflicts
Southern exposure
Changing fortunes
Two-horse power
Boll weevil blues
The shirt on your back
Fields of conflict
Afterword
Glossary
Originally published as: Big cotton : how a humble fiber created fortunes, wrecked civilizations, and put America on the map (New York : Viking, 2005)