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The Taste of Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World Kindle Edition
In The Taste of Empire, acclaimed historian Lizzie Collingham tells the story of how the British Empire's quest for food shaped the modern world. Told through twenty meals over the course of 450 years, from the Far East to the New World, Collingham explains how Africans taught Americans how to grow rice, how the East India Company turned opium into tea, and how Americans became the best-fed people in the world. In The Taste of Empire, Collingham masterfully shows that only by examining the history of Great Britain's global food system, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to our present-day eating habits, can we fully understand our capitalist economy and its role in making our modern diets.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBasic Books
- Publication dateOctober 3, 2017
- File size74806 KB
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About the Author
Lizzie Collingham is an associate fellow at the University of Warwick. The author of three books, including The Taste of War and Curry, she lives in Cambridge, England.
Product details
- ASIN : B01N9ZKQTR
- Publisher : Basic Books; 1st edition (October 3, 2017)
- Publication date : October 3, 2017
- Language : English
- File size : 74806 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 324 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,105,507 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #385 in History of India
- #623 in Gastronomy History (Kindle Store)
- #798 in Cookbooks, Food & Wine (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book informative and interesting. They recommend it for history and food enthusiasts, as it provides useful introductions to larger topics. The author selects historically documented meals and places them in historical context.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book informative and interesting. They say it provides useful introductions to larger topics. The book is described as a collection of chapter-length case studies, with more history than previous books.
"I love history and food so naturally I found this a lovely read!" Read more
"...Fascinating and informative read. Recommend it for history and food buffs." Read more
"One of those books that is chocked-block full of information. I highly recommend it." Read more
"full of more history than earlier books I have read" Read more
Customers enjoy the book's food history. They find the selection of meals interesting and place them in historical context. However, some readers feel the book lacks a clear narrative direction.
"...Fascinating and informative read. Recommend it for history and food buffs." Read more
"...The selection of meals themselves is interesting, but what the book lacks is an overall driving narrative/argument/framework...." Read more
"Good for a Foodie and Anglophile..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2018I love history and food so naturally I found this a lovely read!
- Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2018While traveling in former colonial India and Sri Lanka we read this book to get a real perspective on the socio-political and culinary impacts of empire and global trade. Fascinating and informative read. Recommend it for history and food buffs.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2024Excellent item arrived right on schedule!
- Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2018One of those books that is chocked-block full of information. I highly recommend it.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2018This was a fun read
- Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2018interesting view of the British empire's histry
- Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2018I have read several books about food vis a vis history. This one being the weekest. If history is what you are looking for, there are many much better ones.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2017full of more history than earlier books I have read
Top reviews from other countries
- Canadian GalReviewed in Canada on December 30, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and readable
This is a wonderful book -- very cleverly conceived, based on deep learning, but very accessible and enjoyable to read. Highly recommended!
- markbReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Unsweetened culinary history
In this book Collingham covers five centuries and takes readers around the globe. She describes how, England, later Britain, from at least the Tudor period, forged trade links to feed its population.
Governments and merchants introduced new crops and cultivation methods throughout the Empire's colonies. Whilst presenting themselves as pioneering agricultural reformers, they were in reality indifferent to the needs of colonised peoples. Instead they were intent on exporting raw food commodities to the homeland whilst, at the same time, developing the colonies as markets for goods manufactured in Britain.
Collingham shows how the British diet changed as Empire grew. For example, there was barely anything British about the traditional cup of tea which quenched the thirsts of countless workers. This necessary refreshment was a concoction of leaves picked in Asia and sugar produced on Caribbean slave plantations. Similarly as Empire expanded more and more produce from overseas became associated with home cooking. As a result the development of the British diet meant an ever-increasing proportion of the world’s population was tied into the trading system of Empire. By the twentieth century Britain was heavily dependent on food imported from the colonies and dominions. This in turn had economic and social implications for the Empire's exporting nations. After independence they were left trapped in the role of primary producers with precarious economies at the mercy of world prices.
Collingham's rich, detailed, argument illustrates how Britain's reliance on faraway places to supply its people with food was a real hallmark of Empire, explaining how colonialism and Empire contributed to the creation of the modern capitalist consumer in a globalised world.
This is a satisfying, informative and convincing study offering readers food for thought in every sense.
-
David WoodReviewed in France on January 27, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Evaluation d'envoi
Le livre est arrivé en bon état un peu avant la date prévue. Je suis donc entièrement satisfait.
- Sayan SenGuptaReviewed in India on September 26, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended.
Terrific!The first thing that comes to the fore is the meticulous research that seems to have gone into the book.The second big winner is the language.Even though the book is essentially a historical account there isn't a single dull moment.The facts the book present are so wonderful, sometimes hugely startling, that one is simply glued to the pages.A must read for all interested in colonial history.A special shout out to those interesting pictures and plates.
- Janet WawrzyniakReviewed in Canada on January 7, 2021
4.0 out of 5 stars Knowledge is a wonderful thing.
Well researched and fascinating. It is heavy going at times, but worth the effort .