A Golden Weed: Tobacco and Environment in the Piedmont South
(Part of the Yale Agrarian Studies Series Series)
No Customer Reviews
An exploration of the rise of the crop strain that came to dominate the American tobacco industry and its toll on the Southern landscape that produced it Drew A. Swanson has written an "environmental" history about a crop of great historical and economic significance: American tobacco. A preferred agricultural product for much of the South, the tobacco plant would ultimately degrade the land that nurtured it, but as the author provocatively argues, the choice of crop initially made perfect agrarian as well as financial sense for southern planters. Swanson, who brings to his narrative the experience of having grown up on a working Virginia tobacco farm, explores how one attempt at agricultural permanence went seriously awry. He weaves together social, agricultural, and cultural history of the Piedmont region and illustrates how ideas about race and landscape management became entangled under slavery and afterward. Challenging long-held perceptions, this innovative study examines not only the material relationships that connected crop, land, and people but also the justifications that encouraged tobacco farming in the region.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0300191162
ISBN13:9780300191165
Release Date:August 2014
Publisher:Yale University Press
Length:360 Pages
Weight:1.40 lbs.
Dimensions:1.1" x 6.2" x 9.3"
Customer Reviews
0 rating
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
