The little grains you use to sweeten your food every day have an amazing story to tell. Like many other foods, sugar has a fascinating history, spanning centuries, continents and cultures. Wars have been fought over this food, empires conquered and black markets have flourished. This book describes the journey sugar has taken, from the use of sugarcane in ancient India to the staple sweetener in our cupboards today.

Other topics covered are health aspects of sugar, how it is produced, its chemical properties and how it is traded around the world.

With bright illustrations and amazing photographs, this is an ideal leisure read, but also perfect for coursework and presentations for key stage 2 readers.

• 1: What is sugar?
• 2: How sugar is used
• 3: Sugar cane
• 4: Sugar beet
• 5: Sugar and our health
• 6: Sugar in ancient times
• 7: Sugar in the Middle Ages
• 8: Sugar cane in the Americas
• 9: Sugar and slavery
• 10: Sugar beet in Europe
• 11: An ever sweeter world
• 12: The changing sugar industry
• 13: Sugar today
• 14: Timeline