"Sugar" offers a compelling and surprising look at the sweet commodity, from the ways in which it Africanized the cane fields of the Caribbean to how it fueled the Industrial Revolution and jump-started the fast-food craze.

"First published in 2008 by Penguin Group (Canada)"--t.p. verso.

Part 1: The oriental delight conquers the world -- The reign of sugar begins -- The proletarianization of sugar -- Part 2: Black sugar -- The Africanization of the cane fields -- The world the whites made -- Sugar stirs the universe -- Part 3: Abolition through resistance and parliament -- Racism, resistance, rebellion and revolution -- Blood in the sugar : abolishing the slave trade -- Slaying monsters : slavery and apprenticeship -- Cuba and Louisiana : sugar for North America -- Part 4: The sweetening world -- The sugar diasporas -- Meet and eat me in St. Louis! -- Sugar's legacies and prospects -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- Index -- Credits.