David Grigg is among the world's leading historians of agriculture in both social and economic contexts. His previous books include The Harshlands, The Agricultural Systems of the World, Population Growth and Agricultural Change, English Agriculture, and The Transformation of Agriculture.
About the first edition: Ought to become a classic textbook and undoubtedly is a monument of scholarly synthesis. Geographical Magazine The book promotes its own eminent claims to be on an accessible shelf of every senior school and university library. Geography An excellent addition to the literature ... The book is easy to read and would be a useful textbook for courses on hunger and poverty, third-world development, and agricultural geography. Geographical Review