Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber

What do lipstick, gunpowder, crackers, and paper money have in common? In a word, cotton - at any given time practically everyone on earth is wearing or using or eating something made with it. From its domestication some 5,500 years ago to its vast control today over our government policies, this is the incredible story of the crop that spawned the Industrial Revolution, sparked the American Civil War, and made at least one bug - the boll weevil - world famous. Circling the globe and cutting across centuries, Cotton is the epic tale of the humble fiber that - again and again - reinvented our world.