"In this eye-opening study of how Europeans and Americans transformed sugar from a rare foreign luxury to a commonplace necessity of modern life, and how a slave crop, and the growing demand for it, transformed the history of capitalism and industry, Sidney Mintz asks us to consider the many ways in which sugar has become "meanginful" in modern Western life. [...] Sidney Mintz discusses the production and consumption of sugar, and reveals how closely interwoven are its origins as a "slave" crop grown in Europe's colonies with its use first as an extravagant luxury for the aristocracy, then as a staple of the diet of the new industrial proletariat. [...] Finally, Professor Mintz considers the meaning of food and eating in our own society. Sugar has facilitated the modern transformation of work patterns, consumption habits, and diet, and Sweetness and Power asks us to understand what this means."--Provided by the publisher.