Flax Americana

Joshua MacFadyen is Canada Research Chair in Geospatial Humanities and associate professor in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Prince Edward Island.Joshua MacFadyen is Canada Research Chair in Geospatial Humanities and associate professor in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Prince Edward Island.

"This book is careful to qualify its assertions where necessary. Contending that humans both shape and are shaped by flax, the author embraces complexity and avoids descending into extreme determinism or constructivism. Flax Americana is, like the title, written with a certain panache." American Review of Canadian Studies

"Joshua MacFadyen uncovers the complicated story of a striking crop and vital commodity that historians have almost entirely overlooked." Agricultural History Review

"Macfadyen has done careful, exhaustive research in farmers' and millers' accounts and government reports. His impressive GIS maps combine census data from the US and Canada. These sources help Macfadyen replace folklore with careful assessments of the crop, its markets and its roles. Along the way he weaves a complex web of considerations around the flax plant itself, which indicates how much goes into crop cultivation. Flax Americana reminds readers that agricultural history is larger than plants, and the environment that influences them includes more than natural phenomena." Environment and History

"MacFadyen ... interrogates photos to great effect, reading between the lines and against the grain to elucidate aspects such as gender and race. Contending that humans both shape and are shaped by flax, the author embraces complexity and avoids descending into extreme determinism or constructivism. Flax Americana is, like the title, written with a certain panache." American Review of Canadian Studies

"MacFadyen weaves in the many complex influential factors that shaped flax seed production and discusses not just the labour and business of agriculture but also that of paint manufacturing, paint advertising, and skilled painting labour. [...] The book is an interesting read and will be valuable to agricultural and environmental historians." Histoire sociale/Social history