Ian K. Steele

Fruits of Empire: Exotic Produce and British Taste, 1660-1800, by James Walvin

In the centuries immediately preceding the modern era—where daily use of a plethora of worldwide products is a given—global commerce was a new system privy to the pangs of western persuasions. Indeed, the products seen on grocery store shelves today are the consequence of many transformative years in the history of enterprise itself. In his book, Fruits of Empire, James Walvin seeks to delineate the histories of now commonplace edibles and their indelible influence in shaping aspects of daily life in seventeenth, and eighteenth, and the nineteenth century Britain. Through emphasis on a number of the most dominant plant products of this time period, Walvin gives the reader a glimpse into the rise of tropical plants to prominence, from field to tabletop. Though the book is in this sense effective, it does not, however, give the reader any more than a story which folds in upon itself, time and again. This strategy is effective in outlining crucial motifs seen throughout this time period, but leaves the reader with a disjointed view of an otherwise cohesive history. Throughout the book Walvin seeks to compartmentalize each of the focus plants into its own sub story, including and in order: tea, coffee, tobacco, chocolate, potatoes, and sugar. By doing so, he separates and traces the histories and influences of each individual plant as it made its way from the overseas plantations to the markets, and ultimately the mouths, of the British people. This, however, makes the book extremely repetitive. Not only does every chapter follow a similar timeline starting sometime around 1660 and ending in 1800, but also within many chapters Walvin circumnavigates the histories of a subject plant repeatedly, each time to draw a new point. The lack of a linear timeline is confusing to the reader and unnecessarily so. Better organization would contribute greatly to the flow of the otherwise interesting facts presented throughout the book. This is not to say, however, that Walvin does not sometimes attempt to interpose the historical timelines of multiple plants. In fact, many chapters do mention, here or there, the significance of one plants simultaneous existence with another in British culture. Take, for example, the coincidence of tea and coffee. Walvin states in both the tea and coffee chapters that tea was an import that stayed, more often than not, within the boarders of the British mainland. Coffee, on the other hand, was more commonly …