Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar

by Peter Macinnis

This social and historical exploration traces the history of sugarcane from its home in New Guinea to Shakespeare’s England. Fascinating sugar lore and anecdotes are included, such as how Queen Elizabeth I became so partial to hippocras (mulled wine), sugared almonds, and pastilles that her teeth turned completely black. Explored are the political and sociological impacts of sugar on the world and the tremendous riches available to the unscrupulous few who grew and sold it. The days of manual processing are described, when fortunes were built on the backbreaking labor of slaves. The resulting wars and geopolitical shifts that have shaped the modern world are discussed in detail.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Food, Microhistory, Food History, Science, Food and Drink

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

During 2021, Macinnis has republished revised versions of all of his out-of-print books. The website listed above tells you how to get them. In 2024, he published The Lesser of Two Eagles, where you can learn that in an auction, you get something for nodding

Happy grandfather, travels, writes for adults and youngsters, mainly history or science. Published by the National Library of Australia (Australian Backyard Naturalist May 2012, another book Curious Minds October, 2012, Big Book of Australian History, 2013, 2015, 2017). Talks on ABC (RN), translated into 7 other languages. Winner of the W.A. Premier's Prize for Children's Literature 2013 and other awards.

Writing blog Old Writer on the Block. Google it and say g'day!

McManly on most social media. His Kokoda Track: 101 Days was a 2008 Eve Pownall Honour Book in the CBCA 'Book of the Year' awards. His Australian Backyard Explorer was the 2010 Eve Pownall Book of the Year (listed in 2011, in the prestigious international White Ravens list of children's literature). In 2012, his Australian Backyard Naturalist won a Whitley award, and the WA Premier's Children's Literature Award in 2013. After a few busy years doing other stuff, his Australian Backyard Earth Scientist won the long-winded Educational Publishing Awards Australia prize for best "Student Resource – Arts/Science/Humanities/Social Sciences/Technologies/Health and Physical Education/Languages ".

He has had half a dozen titles rated as "Notable Books" by the Children's Book Council of Australia: that's equivalent to short listing.

Reviews

[Celeste Thayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit, I love nonfiction. I tend to get bored about colonial North American history, though. Slavery and cotton and sugar and triangular trade routes and British/French/Whatever colonialism tends to bore me, unlike the other nonfiction I tend to absorb (European/Near Eastern royalty, anything having to do with foreign foods, chemistry, the rise of industrialism, etc.)

Bittersweet is strong and enjoyable, bringing the history of sugar agriculture and the spread of sweetness across the globe, until the last couple of chapters, which deal with Caribbean slavery agriculture. I read them anyway, and was happy to see that the final chapter is a follow up of the accidental discoveries of artificial sweeteners, chemistry nonfiction being another of my favorite genres.

I do recommend this, but it only gets four stars because it deals with one of my historical pet peeves.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally preferred this to Elizabeth Abbott's "Sugar: A Bittersweet History" (which I had just read prior to reading this book). It stayed close to the title topic and gave more adequate coverage to the use of sugar in other places than the Caribbean. However, the last chapter (about sugar in the 20th century) was hurried and somewhat random seeming. I would have liked more depth in this area.

[Katrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the very start of this book, Macinnis offers the opinion/worry that the history of sugar refining is actually a very dull subject. He's not wrong. What enlivens this book and makes it four instead of three or two is the fact that Macinnis's writing doesn't completely enliven the subject but it does make it easy to read and follow along. If your a big history buff you might enjoy this but if your easily bored. . . try a book on another subject.

[Ronald Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fairly thorough, but fast-moving history of sugar and its impact on world history. Author Mcinnis has included the earliest known references to sugar cane and its products, including ancient texts and Biblical references. Though the early history is based on rather scant information, he presents a plausible theory as to how the influence and production of sugar made its way, geographically and linguistically, from Southeast Asia and Oceania throughout the Old World, and subsequently how Europe's growing addiction to cheap sweets fueled and shaped early economic development in the New World.

For most of the book the focus is on European colonialism and the slave trade. While those topics may be considered of historical interest only, the economic impetus and justification shown during the development of the sugar industry have implications which seem relevant to today's world economic structure. It is not much different today, where rich investor nations harvest the raw materials and invest in poor nations for the labor-intensive portions of the production, develop a hold on the economies of those poor nations, and feel justified in protecting their investments in any way necessary. There are major differences, however, in that in the early days of the trans-Atlantic sugar trade, the cheapest labor was forced and unpaid, and a major lucrative business was found in capturing and selling those laborers. Another difference, regarding sugar, was that it was refined in the colonies only to the stage where it could be best shipped to Europe where the local workforce did the final refining - whereas today the entire manufacturing of goods is typically done by the cheaper labor abroad and all that is necessary in the investor nations is a sufficient number of people willing and able to buy the products.

This book ended with the decline of cane sugar in the sweetener market, but I was disappointed that it did not discuss more thoroughly the impact of beet sugar, corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners on the cane sugar industry and the economies formerly dependent on it.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relatively short history of sugar and the slave trade. This book was humorous in parts and serious in other parts, which I enjoyed. Considering the sordid history of sugar, I'm almost inclined to renounce my sweet tooth! I still feel like I'd like to know more. When I pass the sugar beet factories in eastern Colorado, I'd still like to know what exactly is going on in there. The author did cover sugar beets to some extent, not just sugar cane. He spent a small amount of time on sugar substitutes. I wish he had covered some things in greater detail and spent more time on the modern era, but that would also have made a much larger book.

[Solomon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly composed but fascinating book about sugar's travels from New Guinea c.9000 BCE to ancient India and China, along to Sassanid Mesopotamia, then to the more familiar Madeira, Brazil, and the Caribbean. The author is quirky and funny (sometimes), with a lot of orthodox historical ideas and some strangely unique ones.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think there is probably a better book out there that tells this piece of history. There was amazing information; things I did not know before reading this. I was not able to finish because the book got repetitive and jumped around too much.

I will probably look for further info on the topic, but will probably not pursue other books by this author.

[Joshandkristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! I never knew how Western civilizations' addiction to sugar drove the economy of the world.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just right for what I wanted to read. It was not so long as to be boring but long enough to give a pretty good history of sugar from its beginnings in New Guinea to some current information about arguments over sugar in our own time. Much of the history of sugar involves some of the worst aspects of slavery which account for the "bitter" part of the title. Overall, the subject was interesting, especially the information about beet sugar as well as cane sugar.

[Nikko Ramognino · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are looking for a history of sugar linked to slavery this is your book. If you are trying to learn how sugar was discovered as a wild grass and how consumption evolved through the ages then skip it.

[Buckeyebet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history but difficult to read. Book is not chronological and inserts of reference writings make it difficult to follow.
I had no idea of the processes involved in sugar. I was amazed at some of the processes that were used through the years.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just okay.

[Denise Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I did finish this book, I didn't find it very well-written or engaging. I only finished it because it was short; had it been any longer, I would have not bothered. The author spent a lot of the book discussing the connection of sugar production with the slave trade. The book is so focused on this part of the story that there is almost nothing else in it. I would have liked to hear more about sugar's rise from use as a medicine or a luxury product to its ubiquitous use in our day and age. More about its rise and fall in popularity over time. Short snippets come up in the book about the byproducts of molasses and rum, and about improvements in refinements, but all topics eventually circle back to slavery and/or the indentured servitude that were long required to get sugar from cane fields to market. A little bit of time is spent comparing sugar cane to sugar beets. A very short section at the end of the book discusses artificial sweeteners and ethanol made from sugar. If those sections had been expanded and the connections to the slave trade had been expressed more succinctly, it would have made for a better book.

[Noema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative and well-researched, but poorly structured. I learned many things about the history of the slave trade, economic and political factors driving colonial forces, agricultural advances, and so forth. I also appreciated the witty tone and deep research in primary sources. However, the author pays great attention to the period 1200-1900, but skips over the twentieth century almost entirely. I would have liked to read more about the current status of the sugar industry and its effects on labor and environment now.

[Kimberly]

Cannot make it through this book. Decided to cut my losses and move on, too many other books to read.

[judy weaver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was more interested in the process of sugar. the book was mostly about slaves in the sugar business from beginning of time. interesting bits about how sugar is boiled and lime or ash added.

[Nahyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book For Understanding The Origins Or Sugar!

[Lizka Bruklinsk]

sugar my girl are sweet as sugar