ANDY WARNER'S ODDBALL HISTORIES

An informative and eye-opening explanation of the impact plants have had on our lives.

“This very moment is a turning point in the relationship between people, plants, and everything,” Warner writes, summing up the central concept of this nonfiction graphic offering. He offers overviews of 10 agricultural products—wood, wheat, corn, rice, peppers, sugar, potatoes, tea, tulips, and cotton—and describes the ways they’ve shaped history, culture, and diet over time. Interesting facts and bits of trivia spanning prehistory to the present day will engage and inform readers. Alongside the triumphs, Warner doesn’t shy from presenting the negative effects of the vulnerability of monocultures, people’s quest for wealth and power (e.g., the colonization of Indigenous nations, enslavement of African people, and starvation caused by Hitler’s Hunger Plan), and more. Repetition of the tongue-in-cheek line “This seems like something we can just sustain forever, right?” drives home the point that the “relationship between people and plants, and how we changed each other” is dynamic and constantly in flux. The book can be read cover to cover or dipped into; each section works as a self-contained story. The colorful, detail-filled illustrations and chatty, conversational tone are welcoming. Fans of the You Wouldn’t Want To Be graphic nonfiction history series and similar offerings will immediately be drawn in.

A concise overview of a complex and fascinating history presented in a digestible visual medium.