Spud

SPUD, a new book by Brian Griffin, inspired by a residency in Béthune-Bruay in Northern France, marks the centenary of the end of World War I. Last year, Griffin spent three weeks in the French town, near the site of the Battle of the Somme and, also a large McCain potato factory – one of the largest potato production plants in Europe, producing around 1700 tons of frozen chips each day. With the coincidence of `SPUD’, the informal British word for potato also being slang for low ranking British soldiers in World War I, Griffin explores the relationship between the potatoes grown in the soil and the soldiers who were killed in the very same place, over 100 years ago.