Description
Book SynopsisAmid America's sugar industry, a bitter debate over imperialism and immigration
Trade ReviewWinner of the Richard L. Wentworth/Illinois Award in American History, 2010.
"A compelling account of the deeply interconnected worlds created by the emergence of a new cash crop."--American Historical Review
“Mapes has uncovered patterns of global trade and labor markets that have had a profound impact on American society from the turn of the twentieth century up to the present day.”--
Michigan Historical Review "A very nuanced yet powerful examination of the triumph of industrialism over agricultural America."--
The Annals of Iowa“Mapes tells the understudied sugar beet industry’s fascinating story, and links events in Michigan between 1899 and 1940 to the broader national and global considerations. . . . Recommended.”--
Choice"A fascinating work that provides important information about the history of agriculture and the construction of the term 'factories in the field' and its connections with the American empire. This book should become a mainstay among works in ethnic studies, agricultural labor, corporate power, and the state."--Gilbert G. Gonzalez, author of
Culture of Empire: American Writers, Mexico, and Mexican Immigrants, 1880-1930"Fascinating and beautifully crafted,
Sweet Tyranny places growers, workers, and processors at the center of national debates over immigration, imperialism, protectionism, child labor, and a living wage."--Cindy Hahamovitch, author of
The Fruits of Their Labor: Atlantic Coast Farmworkers and the Making of Migrant Poverty, 1870-1945