Audiobook10 hours
Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat
Written by Robert N. Spengler III
Narrated by Eric Jason Martin
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past. Many foods we consume today-from almonds and apples to tea and rice-have histories that can be traced along the tracks of the Silk Road, out of prehistoric Central Asia to European kitchens and American tables. Organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century B.C., but the exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient trading routes extends back five thousand years. Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, Fruit from the Sands presents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. Vividly narrated, Fruit from the Sands explores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history and transformed consumption all over the globe.
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Reviews for Fruit from the Sands
Rating: 4.3750000625 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
8 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ignites the imagination. This book has many great parts, but also a few where the author proceeds to bewilder the unsuspecting reader with baffling words that perhaps only a fellow Ethnobotanist could follow. What makes it especially frustrating is these unexplained words are repeated frequently. This had me running to the internet for explanation,however, many of the words aren't easily found. I nearly have up on the book, but slogged all the way through and especially enjoyed the chapter on spices and oils. The long complicated chapter on wheats taught me nothing. It was far too complex for a layman to grasp. Two great take aways are Central Asia is where most of what we eat came from.Another is Robert studies carbonized seeds, so such things as leafy greens and roots remain a mystery whose origins are unknown.nist
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, there is no denying that the author covers the subject at hand; at least I got a lot out of it. On the other, the pretty packaging might lead you to believe that this is going to be more of a cultural than a technical study. The cultural side of matters is covered, but Spengler devotes a good forty percent of this book to technical chapters explaining what archaeology tells us about the subject (on a food by food basis), and it's really grad-school level material. Keep that in mind if you were actually planning on buying this work.