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.