Lesser Beasts
Mark Essig Basic Books, 310 pages, $27.99
A slim book on a weighty topic, "Lesser Beasts" is the most fascinating history of pigs you will ever read. Don't say you won't read a history of pigs. That just proves what author Mark Essig knows: Swine are automatically loathed — slandered as unclean, undisciplined, unloved.
Consider these bits of pig history:
• Medieval French courts tried and convicted wayward pigs.
• Hungry, free-ranging colonial pigs helped drive American Indians east by ravaging their crops. They also competed with Indian women, waiting for low tides in order to dig for clams.
• Efficient pork-packing plants set the stage for Henry Ford's assembly lines.
• In 19th-century America, hogs were driven to market like cattle or sheep. Pig drives actually were bigger and went on longer than the fabled cattle drives. A "swineherd," however, doesn't have the same romantic ring as "cowboy" or "shepherd."
The popularity of pork has waxed and waned. And when it's scorned, political or social reasons may be to blame: The wealthy view pork as a food for poor people.
