Fruit from the Sands

The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat

By: Robert N. Spengler III

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past.

Many foods we consume today - from almonds and apples to tea and rice - have histories that can be traced along the tracks of the Silk Road, out of prehistoric Central Asia to European kitchens and American tables. Organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century BC, but the exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practices, and genes along these ancient trading routes extends back 5,000 years.

Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, Fruit from the Sands presents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. Vividly narrated, Fruit from the Sands explores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history and transformed consumption all over the globe.

©2019 Robert N. Spengler III (P)2019 Tantor

Interesting Read!

I found this book extremely informative as to how important the Silk Road was to the spread of spices and plants from Eastern Asia to the rest of the world. However, it reads as more of a academic paper than a traditional book. The author refers to the plants repeatedly by their common names and their latin names. While this information is important, it makes for dry listening. Mentioning the Latin names once, then by their common name would have sufficed.

Fascinating Subject, Bad Writing

This could have been a great read about a really interesting subject but unfortunately the author is clearly an academic, not a writer. Fully two thirds of this book is just lists of various plants and their scientific names. The author goes to great lengths to tell you where exactly each plant came from but not how they spread other than just saying the Silk Road. There is no context about the Silk Road itself and how that trade was conducted or anything of real interest. It’s a great reference book for academics but for the average person it’s just boring.