There’s somethinf lovely about these object lesson microhistories. I love them. I would like to have had a bit less abrupt swap there toward the end however.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Mmm...potatoes!

I love reading books about the history of ordinary things and this book didn't disappoint. Lots of fun and interesting facts to be learned about the spud! I really enjoyed reading this book and it has since inspired me to pay more attention to them when I'm shopping and I have been spouting potato facts at my husband all week and annoying him. I will admit as well it made me a bit hungry too!

Thanks to Netgally and the publisher for the advance copy.

This is a delightful little microhistory about one of my all-time favorite foods. I loved tracing the potato from its Andean roots to its dominance as one of the world’s most eaten foods. Sprinkled throughout its pages are images of potato artwork through the ages, ads for potato-related goods, and even a couple heirloom potato recipes.

The fascinating biography of the humble potato.
What is now an everyday staple food for many people around the world is surrounded in a wealth of little known history. 'Potato' helps you to discover the story of this super carb!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Another intriguing and informative volume in the wonderful Object Lessons series, this time a comprehensive exploration of the potato - its origins, its spread around the world, and its importance and symbolism. Not to mention a few historical recipes and a very personal view of the potato in the last chapter. Made me far more aware of the significance of the potato, for sure, and I learnt many useful facts and figures – not least that China is the biggest producer. Good reading indeed.

One of the odder books Sophie has read over the last few years has to be Potato by Rebecca Earle. This short book is part of the Object Lessons series, a collection of titles about the “hidden lives of ordinary things.” The book looks at the way the potato has spread across the planet going from a crop only grown in one region of the Americas, to one of the most-consumed foodstuffs across the globe. Looking at the journey of the potato allows us to see the movements of ordinary people throughout history.

Potato also shows us how intertwined potatoes are with politics. Not the most obvious connection you may have made, but a true one. Potatoes allow individuals to be self-sustaining far more than some governments have been happy with, and the book shows us that there is far more to the connection between potatoes and Ireland than you may have learned about in the odd history lesson about the Irish potato famine.

A strange yet compelling book, Potato will give you plenty of interesting anecdotes to drop into the conversation next time you’re hanging out in someone’s kitchen while they peel a fresh batch of spuds.

I wholeheartedly admit that potatoes are my favorite food, so I was very interested to read about the history behind them and the connotations that we give them. This is a short, fast read full of intriguing facts about potatoes and how this one food has traveled globally to become one of the most recognized foods in every culture.

I enjoyed that Earle featured art inspired by potatoes in this and that we got to learn a little more about how each culture views potatoes. I especially thought the history of it and the politics behind it was incredibly interesting. There are a couple of recipes included in this, but mostly, this is a book about where the potato comes from and what sort of meaning we've given to it within our current lives.

This would be a great coffee table book for people to peruse, or if you're like me and are obsessed with food, this is a great nonfiction/history read.

This is a fascinating and quirky book on food history and in particular the potato. I really enjoyed it and it is beautifully laid out.

This book is more a philosophical treatise on the meaning of potatoes in society rather than the fact-filled culinary and botanical book I was expecting. The style switches back and forth between academic investigation into the historical impact of potatoes, potatoes in art, and very personal opinions. It ends with a history of the author’s family, and two family recipes for potato dishes that the author feels exemplify the importance that potatoes have had for her family.
The book deals briefly with the potato’s origins in Southern America, and its introduction into Europe by the Spanish Conquistadors, and then to its spread around the world: potatoes “are the quintessential immigrant, arriving without fanfare, performing useful functions, and attracting little attention, at least at first”.
As liberal thought in Europe began to lean towards the idea that healthy well-fed workers are more productive and less likely to riot, “the ordinary potato had become the darling of the Enlightenment”, and the eating of potatoes was increasingly encouraged, particularly for the poor. “Potatoes are in fact the best of all the important crops at converting water into calories. The potato, in short, is an excellent way of feeding more people from the same agricultural inputs. It has further agricultural and nutritional merits, since it flourishes in a range of climates and growing conditions and is rich in vitamin C and other necessary nutrients.”
Later, potatoes were blamed with encouraging indolence (“Because it was so easy to live on potatoes, the Irish did not work as hard as Petty would have liked, with the result that England was able to collect about half the taxes that Petty calculated a potato-free population would have yielded”), and tax-avoidance (as underground tubers are not so visible as grain crops).
Potatoes are great at fattening up a starving population, but “by the mid-nineteenth century slimness, rather than plumpness, had become the modern goal. The potato’s status fell accordingly.”
There are some very interesting facts and ideas in this book, but I felt that a lot was missed out, and some of what the book did contain, could have been left out. I would have liked to have had more about the ways in which potatoes were prepared and consumed around the world, and the different varieties used in different countries. I was also surprised that there was no mention of the Peruvian International Potato Centre and museum!
This is an interesting book, but I feel it could have been better.

What a great book packed with research on what would appear to be a basic topic, the potato. I enjoyed the history of the potato and generally appreciated the amount of time and dedication the author seemed to put into the research for this book. It is always interesting to read books about things like food to see its movement through history and how it has been developed and/or changed.

A charming book, with an interesting take on the humble potato.
Whilst the concept is quirky, the content is well thought out and well written.

Well, reading this book certainly made me look at potatoes in a new light. Having always been one of my very favourite foods, it was nice to see the humble spud being given its due. Beginning with its first cultivation in the Americas over 10 000 years ago, the potato has long been an important crop to keep bellies full. Beyond that the tuber has played an important role in everything from politics to the growth of nations.

I appreciated learning so much about this food I often find myself defending (it's not just a starchy carb, people -- it's got good-for-you stuff, too!), but I did find this book a bit on the dry side. Although there were some interesting pictures and other insets, I was disappointed that there was not a smattering of recipes scattered throughout the pages. I would have loved to have seen some real historical recipes included in regular intervals.

For me the best part of the book was the more personal section at the very end where the author and her sister share family history and how both sides of their family have special recipes featuring potatoes that have been handed down. I wished there'd been more of that throughout the book.

Overall, this was an interesting read, and will be a good resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the potato!

3.25 stars for Potato.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for providing me with a DRC of this book.

This is a fabulous reframing of a root vegetable we take too much for granted. Engagingly written, it nonetheless dismantles some of our commonly held beliefs (the Irish potato famine being one) using a wonderful collection of historical, literary, political and ecological facts to illuminate. I can't wait for more in this series.

Title: Potato



Author: Rebecca Earle



Genre: Nonfiction, Object Lesson, Essay, History, Food,



Plot: Potatoes are one of the four biggest global crops and make up the base for a lot of America's favorite foods. Mashed potatoes at Grandma's for the holidays, French fries smothered in ketchup or lightly salted on a summer's evening, Aunt June's famous potato salad with a hint of bacon, a perfectly baked potato with a dollop of sour cream or scalloped potatoes dripping in butter. Potatoes are the starchy goodness that make up the bulk of our favorite comfort foods. But they are more than that. There are red potatoes, gold potatoes, white potatoes, purple potatoes, black potatoes, finger potatoes and sweet potatoes all with their own unique tastes, textures and flavors. Some are great for boiling while others do better baked.



We know how Ireland has a long history with potatoes but some of us might not know that potatoes originated in South and Central America. They were the food of the Incas till the Americas were discovered and potatoes sailed across the sea. The varieties of potatoes grown by the ancient Incas are mind-boggling and all of them sound delicious.



Likes/Dislikes: I love potatoes. I love growing them and eating them and reading about them. An object lesson on them was surprising and not necessarily something I have ever read before or would likely pick up. But since I like potatoes, I gave it a shot and really enjoyed it. I have a short attention span however so I had to read it in chunks but that's okay, it gives me a good break from everything else going on in my reading life. I did really want more recipes though.



Rating: G-all ages, 14 and up mainly for reading level.



Date Review Written: February 19th, 2019



I received a copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

Everything anyone ever wanted to know about the lowly potato. it probably has the most interesting history of any vegetable on the planet! So many varieties, grows in so many places, NOT responsible for the Irish famine (that's got human written allll over it...) but still front and center of it, it's an amazingly versatile vegetable and one I am glad to see written about. It's a relatively short book covering the ancients celebration of it right up to our our own civilizations love affair with it! It's a short read and entertaining.

I am a big fan of the Object Lessons series, and I think potatoes are delicious any way they are cooked. This book seemed like a natural for me to fall in love with. Perhaps my expectations were a bit high. Potato is the third book I've read in the Object Lessons series, and while there is a lot to appreciate in this volume, I did not enjoy it as much as the others. I appreciate that there was a lot of history about the potato, and the cultural significance of potatoes throughout. I guess the book just wasn't organized in a way that kept me engaged. There were a lot of interesting facts, and I truly enjoyed the last chapter, where the author talks about her own family and the place that potatoes hold in the recipes shared through generations. For some reason it felt longer than the 105 pages of narrative and images. It was an enjoyable book and I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, it just fell a little below my high expectations for the Object Lessons series.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Academic for allowing me to read a free advance digital copy for review.

Who knew there was so much history behind the potato? I certainly didn't, but I've found a new appreciation for one of my favorite foods.

I'm going to be completely honest, I picked up this book thinking that it was going to be the most boring thing I've ever laid my eyes upon. I was pleasantly surprised when this book fascinated me and pulled me in quickly and held my attention until the very end. I'm a huge history nerd, so learning about the history surrounding the potato was right up my alley. I was particularly fascinated to learn that Native Americans had been making essentially instant mashed potatoes for pretty much forever.

Thank netgally, the author for an Advanced Copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book. It's well worth reading

My favorite kind of history book—and it doesn't hurt that I'm a sucker for food history. Delves into poetry, art, politics, labor, and philosophy, all connected by the potato. I learned several fascinating and provoking things. I'll be looking for more books in this series (Object Lessons).