Will I love Slaves for Peanuts?

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.