The Preacher

The Preacher

The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg
Published by Pegasus Books on April 27, 2011
Pages: 426
Format: ebook
Genres: Mystery, Police Procedural, Scandinavian and Nordic Mysteries & Thrillers
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Synopsis

In the sequel to The Ice Princess, a series of sadistic murders spanning two generations remains unsolved—and time is running out for the next victim
In the fishing community of Fjallbacka, life is remote, peaceful, and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young campers, but their bodies were never found. But now, a young boy out playing has confirmed the grim truth. Their remains are discovered alongside those of a fresh victim, sending the tiny town into shock. Local detective Patrik Hedstrom, expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica, can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing, Hedstrom’s attention focuses on the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short—which of this family’s dark secrets will provide the vital clue?

Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity

Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity

Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity by James Walvin
Published by Pegasus Books on April 3, 2018
Pages: 352
Format: hardback
Genres: European World History, Health, Medicine
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Synopsis

How did a simple commodity, once the prized monopoly of kings and princes, become an essential ingredient in the lives of millions, before mutating yet again into the cause of a global health epidemic?

Prior to 1600, sugar was a costly luxury, the domain of the rich. But with the rise of the sugar colonies in the New World over the following century, sugar became cheap, ubiquitous and an everyday necessity. Less than fifty years ago, few people suggested that sugar posed a global health problem.  And yet today, sugar is regularly denounced as a dangerous addiction, on a par with tobacco. While sugar consumption remains higher than ever—in some countries as high as 100lbs per head per year—some advertisements even proudly proclaim that their product contains no sugar.

How did sugar grow from prize to pariah? Acclaimed historian James Walvin looks at the history of our collective sweet tooth, beginning with the sugar grown by enslaved people who had been uprooted and shipped vast distances to undertake the grueling labor on plantations.  The combination of sugar and slavery would transform the tastes of the Western world.

Masterfully insightful and probing, James Walvin reveals the relationship between society and sweetness over the past two centuries—and how it explains our conflicted relationship with sugar today.