Growing up in Morganton, every July and August our kitchen counters overflowed with the tomatoes my father raised. There could be no more appropriate read for this tomato season than William Alexander's deep dive into the history, cultivation and uses of the world's favorite vegetable. (Yes, the Supreme Court has pronounced the tomato to be a vegetable under the law despite the fact that it is actually a fruit. See Chapter 2) The first historical mention of the tomato was by the Spaniards who encountered them in the gardens of the Aztecs. The tomato travelled to Florence during the Renaissance where Cosimo d' Medici named the vegetable then promptly forgot about it. Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous for many centuries and were hated by those that were desperate enough to eat them. And those fun facts are all in the first few pages of this book. If you like tomatoes, history or interesting trivia this is the book for you. "Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World" is well written and meticulously researched. I found it fascinating and yes, I read this book on the beach!
