Book description
Henry Hobhouse was the first to recognise plants as a causal factor in
history in his Seeds of Wealth. In this new book, he examines four
plants: rubber, timber, tobacco and the wine grape, each of which
enormously increased the wealth of those who dealt in them, created
great new industries and changed the course of history. Ancient Rome's
monopoly on wine production had huge economic and hygienic importance.
Without rubber, there would have been no development of cars, buses and
trucks, bicycles, waterproof clothing or even tennis balls and condoms.
Tobacco has largely been condemned for its effects on health and its
true role in history ignored. Tobacco has often been used in place of
currency and its growth in Virginia supported a colony that produced
much of the talent that made Independence possible. Timber shortages led
the British Royal Navy to become dependent on American timber. The
dearth of timber drove English coal mines deep, which led to the steam
pumps, steam engines, and ultimately the Industrial Revolution. These
are fascinating stories the effect of minutiae on the great waves of
history.
Henry Hobhouse was born in Somerset in 1924 and educated at Eton.
From 1946 to 1954 he worked as a journalist for The Economist,
News Chronicle, Daily Express, and Wall Street
Journal, becoming, in 1948, one of the first Directors of CBS-TV
News. His other books are Forces of Change and Seeds of
Change.
