Sugar has left a bloody trail through human history. Cane--not cotton or tobacco--drove the bloody Atlantic slave trade and took the lives of countless Africans who toiled on vast sugar plantations under cruel overseers. And yet the very popularity of sugar gave abolitionists in England the one tool that could finally end the slave trade. This book traces the history of sugar from its origins in New Guinea around 7000 B.C. to its use in the 21st century to produce ethanol.

From magic to spice -- Hell -- Freedom -- Back to our stories : new workers, new sugar.