A unique compendium, drawing on history and mythology, science and art, anecdote and image, personal narrative and epic to tell the extraordinary story of the grain that built the New World. Betty Fussell has given us a true American saga, interweaving the histories of the indigenous peoples who first cultivated the grain and the European conquerors who appropriated and propagated it.

In an authoritative, wise and wholly original blend of social history, art, science and anthropology, Betty Fussell tells the story of corn in a narrative that is as uniquely hybrid as her subject. It is a story that can be told in the language of myth or industry, of sacred ritual or secular farming, but in any language it makes clear that all the civilizations of the Western Hemisphere have been built on corn. The great epic of this amazing grain and of the people who for seven centuries have planted, eaten, worshipped, processed and profited from it reaches into every corner of American life--not just its food but also its poetry, its commerce, its religion and, of course, its booze. In her beautifully balanced text as well as in hundreds of extraordinary illustrations, Fussell juxtaposes the many facets of corn's history and influence to surprising, dramatic effect. The Story of Corn changes completely one's sense of the shape and nature of the American experience. You will never again munch on a hush puppy, admire a Maya temple, read Hiawatha or simply pass a cornfield in the same way.