Less linear than Mark B. Tauger's much shorter Agriculture in World History (CH, Aug'11, 48-6873), Isett (history, Univ. of Minnesota) and Miller (history, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham) instead populate their global survey of agricultural heritage with specific illustrations, widely diverse in time and region, to argue against the notion that growth in population and urban development created a need for additional agricultural commodities, which in turn created opportunities for producers to increase output, consume alternate goods, and focus on production of commodities of highest return. More generally, the authors explain agricultural phenomena less in stark economic terms and more in line with the sociopolitical phenomena and climate they believe more fully influenced agricultural development. Although their scope is primarily Western, Isett and Miller do look at examples in Africa, China, Taiwan, and Latin America. Chapters on socialist agriculture, and on corporate agriculture in Brazil and the United States, provide a good insight into two very influential patterns that developed at different points in the 20th century and beyond. Given this work's scope and complexity, it is recommended primarily for higher-level students, faculty, and professionals involved with agricultural economics and history. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; faculty and professionals.

--L. S. Cline, Missouri State University

Lynn S. Cline

Missouri State University