Seeds of Change: Five Plants That Transformed Mankind

Totally fascinating. Reminds me of Howard Zim's People's History of the United States. Lot's of facts, figure, and dates without being overwelming, with good continuity throughout the various sections. There is so much about the forces on world history that we don't understand. Would the world have been without widespread Black slavery if there had been no sugar and cotton plantations? What would Africa and the United States be like now? Would China have become a major world power in the 19th century if it had not been for the tea and opium trade? Very thoughtful. I listened to a books-on-tape version from the local library and want to get copies for friends and family.

I read this book 10 years ago and am still savoring it. You may not be a history buff nor a gardener, but this book is as readble as any airport novel, and has the added pow of self-enrichment. No one who reads it will be wasting their time. -from a non-intellectual

On first reading of H. Hobhouse's Seeds of Change, it covered only 5 plants. So finding that he had added Cocoa was a surprise. It was also a pleasure. As before Henry has done a great job. He has taken his insights of the changes caused by these plants further in his book FORCES OF CHANGE. As with Jim Burke's CONNECTIONS, Mr. Hobhouse has done an excellent job in presenting the hidden impact of the biologicals over the last several hundred years. Our generations are seeing the immense impact of the Internet. His doumentation of the impact of plants which led to "Forces of Change" had still not been adequately treated in tech and in academic forums. We are still "snowblind" on the global impacts of so many things. It is not surprising that the rapid changes are still obscured by the dust of change. Ultimately, however, I think that H. Hobhouse's contribution to "systemic insights" will be an excellent clarifier of the values of our times as well as the differentials of the last half millenium.

Henry Hobhouse's writing and his 'systemic' analysis of agriculture is similar to James Burke's "Connections" and Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel". Hobhouse's career as columnist, scholar, farmer, and historian is best exemplified by the fruits of his work. Both "Seeds of Change "and "Forces of Change" show how systemic analysis does not have to degenerate into a "reductionist" fantasy. His multi-disciplinary mastery of subjects, methods, and cultural criteria are best examined by reading than by commentary. His work is a master-piece of subject matter familiarity and it shows the best way to exprapolate detailed information to apply it to a specialized culture and to individual disciplines.