Scientific Red

I agree with Nadine that portions of the book have the potential of being boring...but it's not. I found it to be an easy read, a "popular" history style book that started out much in the same vein as our books on chocolate and sugar. We once again get a survey history of Mesoamerica and the Spanish invasion. I view this book as a scientific history. While it lacked the details of the production side, it explained the scientific search for the truth about this unusual commodity.  Science also leads to its ultimate demise.  From an economic view point, I found it interesting that Conquistadors had no interest in exploiting the market for cochineal. The real capitalist entrepreneurs were the Tlaxcalans! Were they the proletarians of the story? I don't think so. But I found it so interesting that the Aztecs used them to train their army, and in the end it was the Tlaxcalans that help defeat the Aztecs and ultimately became successful off the Spanish merchants.