Slaves for Peanuts : A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History - Jori Lewis

Slaves for Peanuts

A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History

By: Jori Lewis

Paperback | 1 March 2025

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $34.99

$33.25

or 4 interest-free payments of $8.31 with

 or 

Available: 1st March 2025

Preorder. Will ship when available.

**Winner, James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference, History, and Scholarship 2023, Food**

**Winner, Harriet Tubman Prize 2023**

'A complex story crossing time and oceans' (National Public Radio), Jori Lewis's prizewinning Slaves for Peanuts deftly weaves together the natural and human history of a crop that transformed the lives of millions. 'With elegant prose and engaging details' (National Book Award-winner Imani Perry), Lewis reveals how demand for peanut oil in Europe ensured that slavery in Africa would persist well into the twentieth century, long after the European powers had officially banned it in the territories they controlled.

"This informative and compassionate account unearths a little-known chapter in the history of slavery and European imperialism' (Publishers Weekly), recreating a world on the coast of Africa that is breathtakingly real and unlike anything modern readers have experienced. Slaves for Peanuts is 'told in rich detail through the eyes of West African men and women' (Civil Eats) from an African-born French missionary harbouring runaway slaves, to the leader of a Wolof state navigating the politics of French imperialism who challenge our most basic assumptions of the motives and people who supported human bondage.

At a time when Americans are grappling with the enduring consequences of slavery, here is a new and revealing chapter in its global history.

'Slaves for Peanutsplumbs a fascinating and disturbing slice of history, shining a light on another glaring example of Western hypocrisy and oppression.' NPR Books

More in Colonialism & Imperialism

Colonialism : A Moral Reckoning - Nigel Biggar

RRP $34.99

$31.75

Orientalism : Western Conceptions of the Orient - Edward W. Said

RRP $24.99

$18.95

24%
OFF
Batavia - Peter FitzSimons

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$31.75

A Liveable Future is Possible - Noam Chomsky

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Decrypting Justice : From Epistemic Violence to Immanent Democracy - Ricardo Sanin-Restrepo
The Way of Florida : A Novel - Russell Persson
Remembering the Myall Creek Massacre - Jane Lydon

RRP $34.99

$25.75

26%
OFF
Empireland : How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain - Sathnam Sanghera
Inflamed : Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice - Rupa Marya