Maize and grace : Africa's encounter with a New World crop, 1500-2000 / James C. McCann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McCann, James, 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Corn--Africa--History.

Corn.

Grain--Africa--History.

Grain.

Physical Description:

xiii, 289 p. : ill., maps.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2005.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Sometime around 1500 A.D., an African farmer planted a maize seed imported from the New World. That act set in motion the remarkable saga of one of the world's most influential crops--one that would transform the future of Africa and of the Atlantic world. The recent spread of maize has been alarmingly fast, with implications largely overlooked by the media and policymakers. McCann's compelling history offers insight into the profound influence of a single crop on African culture, health, technological innovation, and the future of the world's food supply.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1 Africa and the World Ecology of Maize

2 Naming the Stranger: Maize's Journey to Africa

3 Maize's Invention in West Africa

4 Seeds of Subversion in Two Peasant Empires

5 How Africa's Maize Turned White

6 African Maize, American Rust

7 Breeding SR-52: The Politics of Science and Race in Southern Africa

8 Maize and Malaria

9 Maize as Metonym in Africa's New Millennium

Appendix: Tables

Notes

Select Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Illustration Credits

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 261-274) and index.

ISBN:

9780674265905

0674265904

9780674040748

0674040740

OCLC:

1013962350