Food in History
by Reay Tannahill
List Price:
Our Price: $9.69
You Save: $8.31 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.84 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Reay TannahillEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1995-05-10
ISBN: 0517884046
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Broadway
Book Reviews of Food in History
Book Review: A handy reference to the history of food
Summary: 4 Stars
"Food in History," by Reay Tannahill, Revised Edition, Crown Publishers, NY, 1988. This 409-page hardback provides an overview of the history of food stuffs. It begins with the domestication of animals (the dog was first in about 11,000 BC) and goes all the way to modern day subjects such as the green revolution.
Concise sections cover almost every food topic. Sugar, the potato, honey, the tomato, soybeans, rice, corn, spices, tea, the horse, salt, and even pasta are included. Pasta may go back to the Etruscans as claimed, but clearly tomato sauce is newer. The tomato originated in North America and did not arrive in Europe until the Sixteenth Century.
The list of foods originating in the Americas is impressive: the potato, the tomato, corn, avocados, pineapples, haricot, kidney and butterbeans, lima beans, scarlet runners, French beans, chocolate, peanuts, vanilla, red peppers, green peppers, tapioca, and the turkey plus tobacco, rubber, chewing gum and quinine.
Many of the topics could make an entire book. Comprehensive coverage would make an multi-volume encyclopedia. Here, we get a two or three page overview with references. The story of the potato is told in two pages; the Irish potato famine gets two more.
The book covers the globe including China, India, Egypt and South America. The author is from University of Glasgow. British topics seem well covered, but the discussion extends to America too. The story of canning is described in considerable detail, and so is frozen foods, but Clarence Birdseye (modern frozen foods) and JR Simplot (instant mashed potatoes, dehydrated onions, and frozen french fries) are omitted.
This book is a nicely done overview of the subject. It is a handy quick reference to the subject and an excellent starting point for further research. References, bibliography, index.
Summary of Food in History
An enthralling world history of food from prehistoric times to the present. A favorite of gastronomes and history buffs alike, Food in History is packed with intriguing information, lore, and startling insights--like what cinnamon had to do with the discovery of America, and how food has influenced population growth and urban expansion.Business & Investing Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Business & Investing Books
Money for Nothing: One Man's Journey Through the Dark Side of Lottery Millionsby Edward Ugel
HarperBusiness; Published: 2007-09-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.46
Price in other shops:
You Can Do It! CDby Jonathan D. Pond
HarperAudio; Published: 2006-11-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.05
Price in other shops:
China's Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a New Societyby John Naisbitt, Doris Naisbitt
HarperBusiness; Published: 2010-01-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperityby Richard Florida
Harper; Published: 2010-04-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insuranceby Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.65
Price in other shops:
Attitude is Everything Rev Ed: 10 Life-Changing Steps to Turning Attitude into Actionby Keith Harrell
HarperBusiness; Published: 2005-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.31
Price in other shops:
Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Businessby Douglas Rushkoff
HarperBusiness; Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.65
Price in other shops:
Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Tradersby Jack D. Schwager
Perennial (HarperCollins); Published: 1990-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
The Truth About Money 3rd Editionby Ric Edelman
HarperBusiness; Published: 2003-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.39
Price in other shops:
J.K. Lasser's Taxes Made Easy for Your Home-Based Businessby Gary W. Carter
Macmillan General Reference; Published: 1999-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Near a Thousand Tables : A History of Foodby Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
Free Press; Published: 2003-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.22
Price in other shops:
Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary Mealby Margaret Visser
Grove Press; Published: 2010-06-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops:
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern Historyby Sidney W. Mintz
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1986-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.02
Price in other shops:
Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Cultureby Marvin Harris
Waveland Pr Inc; Published: 1998-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.00
Price in other shops:
Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicantsby Wolfgang Schivelbusch
Vintage Books; Published: 1993-06-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Food and Culture: A Readerby Carole Counihan
Routledge; Published: 2007-12-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $51.38
Price in other shops:
Spice: The History of a Temptationby Jack Turner
Vintage; Published: 2005-08-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.68
Price in other shops:
A History of Foodby Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat
Wiley-Blackwell; Published: 2008-11-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.25
Price in other shops:
Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and Peopleby Linda Civitello
Wiley; Published: 2011-03-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.56
Price in other shops:
An Edible History of Humanityby Tom Standage
Walker & Company; Published: 2010-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.43
Price in other shops: