Sugar... Overlay, bite, closely. A sweetness familiar from childhood. But how many of us have ever wondered what journey it took before it came to our table? And how far did sugar travel through centuries and countries before it became common in every home? And of course, hardly anyone imagined sugar as an important actor on the historical stage. In this book, the amazing history of the sugar industry is intricately intertwined with the completely non-sugar history of mankind. In different eras, it became the cause of bloody wars and the prosperity of entire nations, a symbol of slave labor and untold wealth, inhuman suffering and human passions. On the pages of the book, as in an adventure novel, are slaves and planters, famous filibusters and crowned heads, alchemists and great scientists. Sugar... Good or evil? Sweet or bitter? Curious and little-known facts, paradoxical conclusions, elegant ironic style - all this makes Peter MacInnis’ book extremely fascinating for anyone interested not only in the history of the “sweet” industry, but also in world history in general.