“Many readers will be familiar with David Gentilcore’s 2010 book Pomorodo!: A History of the Tomato in Italy. Gentilcore’s newest book, again on a food taken to Europe during the so-called ‘Columbian exchange,’ is in several ways quite different. Whereas Pomodoro! was lavishly illustrated, Potato has more abundant footnotes and an exhaustive bibliography. The approach is quite a bit more serious, written for a more select audience than Pomodoro!. This more restricted audience means a higher price, and at $110 the volume will appeal mostly to libraries rather than individual readers. While Potato’s tone is quite a bit more academic, Gentilcore does still include enough anecdotes and effective narrative to keep the reader’s interest…”