Seeds of Wealth: Four Plants That Made Men Rich Book

This is a book packed with information, and an admirable amount of research appears to have gone into its production. For me, it rather fell between stools; it is too opinionated for a text book and not personal enough to be a 'good read'. Dates and statistics chase each other - useful things to know perhaps, but they are interspersed with some strong statements of opinion around history, colonialism and politics that I found dated in attitude and jarring.

I keep the book because I may find the material useful at some point - though as others have also pointed out, he considered not five plants but four: timber, wine, rubber, tobacco.