This book is great social history. Zuckerman examines the potato's influence in Ireland, England, the United States, and France, with an emphasis on the economic and domestic conditions that made the potato a desirable addition to Western diets.

The potato was not welcomed at first.|AMP|nbsp; It was considered animal food (at best) or poisonous (at worst).|AMP|nbsp; The potato directly competed with wheat, and Europeans held wheat bread (even old, hard, stale bread) in the highest regard. Potato growing was thought to salt the earth and make it unfit for growing wheat, and potato eaters were thought to be lazy, immoral and dirty.|AMP|nbsp; One of the strengths of the book is Zuckerman's analysis of how the potato and those who ate it were confounded, so that both were denounced.|AMP|nbsp; Many leading English medical and political experts thought that the potato was ruining the Irish peasants, and that it might also ruin English peasants.|AMP|nbsp;

Zuckerman's analysis is at its best when he is discussing Ireland.|AMP|nbsp; He shows how the economy, diet, cooking technology and social structure were ripe for the introduction of the potato.|AMP|nbsp; The potato provided insurance against famine for the poor by supplementing grain and dairy products.|AMP|nbsp; It allowed tenant farmers to feed their own families with a modicum of work, and still have time to raise crops for sale.|AMP|nbsp; It allowed factory workers to supplement their diets.|AMP|nbsp; It was easy for women with few cooking utensils to prepare.|AMP|nbsp; Of course, the irony is that as economic conditions in Ireland worsened, the potato replaced grain and dairy products and became the main dietary staple.

By 1845, most peasants couldn't afford oats, bread or dairy products, and depended solely on the potato.|AMP|nbsp; This left the population vulnerable when blight struck in 1845 and the population was decimated through starvation, migration and disease.|AMP|nbsp; Zuckerman's discussion of the potato famine is excellent.|AMP|nbsp; I've never read a clearer presentation of how extensive the suffering was.|AMP|nbsp;

Zuckerman's analysis is weaker for the United States, France and England.|AMP|nbsp; In the U.S., the potato was more readily accepted for reasons that are not entirely clear.|AMP|nbsp; In England, the potato was shunned.|AMP|nbsp; First of all, it was associated with the Irish, and secondly, it was neither meat nor bread and English cooking did not generally include vegetables.|AMP|nbsp; In France, the potato was accepted, but only by the peasants who used it to supplement their diets.|AMP|nbsp; It never became the primary staple as it did in Ireland.|AMP|nbsp;

Zuckerman's writing is clear and compelling.|AMP|nbsp; He is a good story-teller.|AMP|nbsp; I rate the book a " except for the weakness noted above, so I rate it a /0 instead.|AMP|nbsp;

Note:|AMP|nbsp; I've never read Redcliffe N. Salaman's History and Social Influence of the Potato, but Zuckerman says that his book is different because it focuses on the cooking demands of the potato.