Big Cotton
Author: Stephen Yafa
Novelist, playwright, and award-winning screenwriter StephenYafa pens an engaging account of the far-reaching influence of cotton on people's lives. Big Cotton captures every thread of this fiber's startling history while featuring a compelling collection of anecdotes and colorful characters.
From its domestication 5,500 years ago to its nearly ubiquitous presence in modern-day life, cotton has had a rich and often troubled history. The plant, synonymous to many with American slavery, made millionaires of some and introduced poverty to others. The seemingly innocent fiber revolutionized the way people live and became intertwined with capitalism, inventiveness and greed.Whether playing a key role in the Industrial Revolution or serving as the raw material for that most American of products-blue jeans–cotton's history is undeniably woven with humanity's passions and thirst for achievement.
