Food in History

First published in 1973, this survey follows what people have eaten from prehistoric hunting and gathering through farming, classical banquets, medieval dearth, the Columbian exchange, and industrial food. Tannahill treats grain, meat, spice, sugar, and drink as matters of climate, class, and transport as well as taste. Chapters move by period and region rather than by recipe. The book links famine, table manners, and technology without becoming a cookbook. It is a social history of diet, not a restaurant guide and not a collection of menus.

Quarter bound in dark red buckram with front board and spine printed with a colour picture. Olive slipcase and endpapers.