RED MEAT REPUBLIC A Hoof-to-Table History of How Beef Changed America

John Chancer does yeoman work bringing this history to life. He narrates with good forward momentum and almost overcomes the challenges that this repetitive and turgid work presents. This audiobook on a compelling subject--the history of the nineteenth- century meat industry from prairie to packer--often suffers from an academic approach: Every assertion is qualified, every point reiterated; it tells rather than shows and explains where it might demonstrate. More's the pity because there is much to be learned here. The work is well researched. The listener hears the multilayered history of cattle raising, transporting, slaughtering, and finishing. Ultimately, ranchers, railway owners, and butchers were all beholden to the powerful Chicago meat packers. And who knew that poorly paid cowboys ever went on strike? A.D.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2019]