Why read Slaves for Peanuts?

Book cover of Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History

Book description

Winner, James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference, History, and Scholarship

A stunning work of popular history-the story of how a crop transformed the history of slavery

Americans consume over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut products every year. But few of us know the peanut's tumultuous history, or its intimate…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Slaves for Peanuts as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Luke Jerod Kummer

Author

Before, when I saw a peanut, I’d think of the circus or a baseball game. But this book taught me how such an unassuming legume became central to Senegal’s experiences of colonialism, forced labor, and war.

For me, this was particularly eye-opening reading—I visited Dakar some years ago, quickly becoming enamored with the place. Yet the connections in this title were still mostly unknown to me.

Balancing an impressive haul of research with her knack for lush, immersive descriptions, Lewis deftly illustrates how slavery and its evils coevolved with peanut production across continents, cultures, and centuries.

From Luke's 3 favorite reads in 2023.