Description
Book SynopsisWhile there are many studies of the global influence of crops and plants, this is perhaps the first social history based around a plant in South Africa. Plants are not quite historical actors in their own right, but their properties and potential help to shape human history. In turn, the trail of the prickly pear in South Africa has been profoundly affected by the plant’s biological characteristics. Plants such as the prickly pear tend to be invisible to those who do not use them, or at least on the peripheries of people’s consciousness. This book explains why they were not peripheral to many people in the Eastern Cape, and why a wild and sometimes invasive. plant from Mexico remains important to African women in shacks and small towns.
Trade ReviewI found the book hugely absorbing. It uses the history of one plant to traverse an exceptionally wide historical and social terrain... I think that anyone curious about South African history will find the connections the book makes - across space, time, and, perhaps most of all, between people - fascinating and remarkable. - Jonny Steinberg, author of Midlands and Three Letter Plague
Table of ContentsPrickly Pear, Brewing and Local Knowledge in the Eastern Cape, 2000-2006. The Spread of Prickly Pear, 1750-1900. Early Debates about the Control of Prickly Pear. Experiments with Cactus in the Cape, a Miracle Fodder? 1900-1930. Eradicating an Invader: Entomologists, Cactoblastis and Cochineal, 1930-1960. The Multi-Purpose Plant, 1950-2006. Scientists and the Re-evaluation of Cactus for Fodder and Fruit, 1960-2006. Afrikaners and the Cultural Revival of Prickly Pear. Conclusion: Back to the Brewers.
