The Sweetness of Life: Southern Planters at Home

Abstract

Eugene D. Genovese opens this work with a telling anecdote, reporting an exchange with the historian Charles Crowe: “‘Gene, listening to you, I finally figured out why you are so soft on the slaveholders. You actually like those people.’ I could not tell a lie: ‘Yes, Charles, I do’” (p. 2). Genovese died in 2012, with The Sweetness of Life virtually finished. Douglas Ambrose has added a valuable preface and an epilogue but otherwise made only “minor corrections” (p. x). The book reflects Genovese's lifetime of research, drawing on more than 150 manuscript collections and published sources. As the opening anecdote suggests, this book, in intriguing and sometimes-contradictory ways, offers a tribute to the planter class. Chapters demonstrate that legendary southern hospitality was a reality and take us inside the “big house” to show how the elite dined. For many, oysters were a favorite food, and champagne was the preferred drink. Ice houses became increasingly common.