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 We LOVE potatoes, and why not? At only 100 calories per spud, they're an incredible source of vitamins and minerals (they pack more vitamin C than tomatoes and oranges), and contain 60 different kinds of phytochemicals and vitamins in their skins and flesh. They are also one of the most popular of foods, whether it?s a bowl of buttery mash, a cone of salty chips at the seaside or a baked spud with melting cheese on top. But perhaps the most amazing thing about potatoes is how useful they are.

This book looks at every aspect of this humble vegetable, from its origins and how it spread around to world, to how to grow them, cook and eat them. From comfort food to eye watering poteen, we can also use them to clean silverware, remove rust, shine shoes, create a decorative stamp and alleviate arthritis, heartburn, and even cure scurvy!

Author: Bill Laws has gardened ? and written about gardening and gardeners ? for most of his working life and has recently published Tales from the Tool Shed and Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History. He divides his time between writing and running an allotment, and also manages a riverside Victorian garden and restores old garden tools.