The Pecan: A History of America's Native Nut

McWilliams (Just Food; A Revolution in Eating) offers another entry in a growing field of books that trace the historical and cultural paths of a single food. Whereas these works were once the domain of academics, recent titles, including this one, are written in a style accessible to general readers. The author does an admirable job of telling the very American story of the pecan, starting with pre-Columbian times and arriving at the sophisticated and improved pecan that is produced today. According to the author, the scrappy pecan tree managed to survive and thrive despite early periods of harvest methods that thinned groves, a cotton industry that had landowners clearing forest for crops, and spring flooding. McWilliams weaves American history, agricultural history, and science into the story of the wild pecan groves and their transformation into an industrialized crop that some believe was saved by rising exports to China. While the author ends with some concerns about the future of the pecan, readers will be left with hope that the tree will persevere.