From Microliths to Microwaves  
The Evolution of British Agriculture, Food and Cooking
Author(s): Colin Spencer
Published by Grub Street
Publication Date:  Available in all formats
ISBN: 9781909166912
Pages: 0

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ISBN: 9781909166912 Price: INR 1129.99
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This important book is a ground breaking work on the subject of British food. It had been thought that civilization in Britain, which stems from farming, food and cookery all began with the Romans. But it has now been discovered that thriving communities possessing a long history with their own ritual, laws, culture and food, inhabited Britain long before that time. Food is the fundamental spur to action, innovation, exploration and creativity in humankind. This book explores the roots of our national existence through the cultivation of its land, the production and cooking of its food, revealing the molding force of climate and the constant invention in technology that produced the food through the centuries. It will end in the present but will also consider the ominous, immediate future with the combined threat of global warming and Peak Oil. It is a breath-taking attempt to trace the changes to and influences on food in Britain from the earliest dawning of time when England became an island, through the Roman occupation, the Plague years, the Industrial Revolution, the rise of Capitalism to the present day. There has been a recent wave of interest in food culture and history and Colin Spencer’s masterful, readable account of our culinary history is a celebrated contribution to the genre. There has never been such an exciting, broad-scoped history of the food of these islands. It should remind us all of our rich past and the gastronomic importance of British cuisine.
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This important book is a ground breaking work on the subject of British food. It had been thought that civilization in Britain, which stems from farming, food and cookery all began with the Romans. But it has now been discovered that thriving communities possessing a long history with their own ritual, laws, culture and food, inhabited Britain long before that time. Food is the fundamental spur to action, innovation, exploration and creativity in humankind. This book explores the roots of our national existence through the cultivation of its land, the production and cooking of its food, revealing the molding force of climate and the constant invention in technology that produced the food through the centuries. It will end in the present but will also consider the ominous, immediate future with the combined threat of global warming and Peak Oil. It is a breath-taking attempt to trace the changes to and influences on food in Britain from the earliest dawning of time when England became an island, through the Roman occupation, the Plague years, the Industrial Revolution, the rise of Capitalism to the present day. There has been a recent wave of interest in food culture and history and Colin Spencer’s masterful, readable account of our culinary history is a celebrated contribution to the genre. There has never been such an exciting, broad-scoped history of the food of these islands. It should remind us all of our rich past and the gastronomic importance of British cuisine.
Table of contents
  • Cover
  • Author
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Prologue
  • Chapter One: Becoming an Island
    • A Varied Diet
    • Re-colonisation
    • Unlimited Food
    • Sea Levels
    • The People.
  • Chapter Two: God, Flour and Family
    • How did it Start?
    • Religion and Ritual
    • Gods and Crops
    • Immigration
    • The Food
    • Celts and Iron
    • Cake before Bread
  • Chapter Three: Rome
    • Trade and Slaves
    • Conquest
    • Food
    • Garden Produce
    • Food Symbolism
  • Chapter Four: The Crucial Era
    • The Prize
    • Dietary Changes
    • Farming
    • The Founding of the Village
    • Anglo-Saxon Dining
    • Anglo-Saxon Food
    • The Vikings
    • Viking Food
    • The Vegetable Garden
    • Danes, Taverns and Bakers
    • The Naming of England
  • Chapter Five: A Conquered Island
    • Dispossession
    • Mealtimes and Kitchens
    • Dinner
    • Food Trades
    • Manners
    • Prosperity and Poverty
    • Charter of the Forest
    • Water Power Gardens and Walks
    • The Danger of Food
    • Saracen Flavours
  • Chapter Six: The Plague Years and After
    • The Great Famine
    • Plague and War
    • Feeding a Depleted Community
    • Class and Manners. Late Medieval Food
    • The Economics of the Elite
  • Chapter Seven: The Gastronomic Peak
    • Finding Nationality
    • The Vanishing Almond
    • The New World of Reading
    • The Rector of Radwinter
    • The Seeds of Empire
    • The Queen
  • Chapter Eight: Comfort, Pleasure and Security
    • The Interregnum
    • How to be a Lady
    • The Food Itself
    • Women and Food
    • The Desire for Display
    • The Countrywoman
  • Chapter Nine: The Triumph of the Bourgeoisie
    • The First Celebrity Chef
    • Eliza Acton
    • The Way it Looks
    • The Death of Haute Cuisine
    • Nouvelle Cuisine
    • Affluence
    • Science
    • Technology
    • Summing Up
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
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