Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber

In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Cod and Salt, this endlessly revealing book reminds us that the fiber we think of as ordinary is the world's most powerful cash crop, and that it has shaped the destiny of nations. Ranging from its domestication 5,500 years ago to its influence in creating Calvin Klein's empire and the Gap, Stephen Yafa's Cotton gives us an intimate look at the plant that fooled Columbus into thinking he'd reached India, that helped start the Industrial Revolution as well as the American Civil War, and that made at least one bug—the boll weevil—world famous. A sweeping chronicle of ingenuity, greed,  conflict, and opportunism, Cotton offers "a barrage of fascinating information" (Los Angeles Times).

Stephen Yafa, a novelist, playwright, and award-winning screenwriter, has written for Playboy, Details, Rolling Stone, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1. Spun in All Directions 9

2. Star Turns 25

3. The Barber from Preston 39

4. Revolutionary Fiber 70

5. Camelot on the Merrimack 91

6. Looming Conflicts 118

7. Southern Exposure 147

8. Changing Fortunes 173

9. Two-Horse Power 202

10. Boll Weevil Blues 233

11. The Shirt on Your Back 270

12. Fields of Conflict 305

Afterword 338

Glossary 345

Notes 349

Bibliography 375

Acknowledgments 381

Index 385