"Roth offers a compelling account of the soybean and its significant scientific, agricultural, environmental, and technological consequences."—Middle West Review
"Magic Bean is a valuable contribution to multiple historiographies and a model commodity study."—Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"This study is based on sound research, and the structure leads the reader through the science and technology that made soybeans acceptable for human consumption. Food and social historians will find this study useful. Agricultural historians should consider this book essential reading."—Pacific Historical Review
"Roth makes sense of soy’s paradoxical rise as both the ideal flexible commodity and a potent symbol for alternative visions. Magic Bean reveals the work that made soy the ubiquitous but often invisible product it is today."—Western Historical Quarterly
"Roth’s research alone makes Magic Bean an indispensable resource for anyone interested in further historical study of soy. For scholars and lay readers eager to learn of the multifaceted ways soy has shaped Americans’ diets, landscapes, and culture, [this book] is a must-read."—Missouri Historical Review
“The book is thoroughly researched and fully documented. It is recommended reading for anyone involved or interested in agriculture and the food industry including farmers. It is also recommended reading for those interested in vegetarian foods.”—Nebraska History
"Roth pulls soy from obscurity and places it center stage. Magic Bean is an enjoyable read, and anyone interested in the cultures, science, and economics of American foodways will find much of interest between its covers."—Annals of Iowa
"In this captivating and highly readable history, Roth documents the incredible rise of the soybean and its myriad uses during the 20th century. . . will appeal to those interested in agriculture, food, and American history. Highly recommended."—Choice
"A lively, well-researched tale of how an obscure legume became the basis of a massive industry."—Wall Street Journal
“Magic Bean is compelling, comprehensive, and timely. Matthew Roth has provided a well-examined study of soy’s place within a long century of changing agriculture, food, diet, and culture. In the process, he offers an original and admirably wide-ranging account of soy for our time.”—Benjamin R. Cohen, author of Notes from the Ground: Science, Soil, & Society in the American Countryside
“A diverse cast of women and men promoted the soybean as devotedly as John Chapman did the apple, but their efforts have gone as unnoticed as soy lecithin in a chocolate bar. Matthew Roth’s Magic Bean tells their stories and explains how a food often billed as a meat substitute became a linchpin of animal agriculture.”—Kendra Smith-Howard, author of Pure and Modern Milk: An Environmental History Since 1900
