Joan Thirsk is the UK's leading historian of agriculture.

• Preface; List of Illustrations; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Setting the Scene Before 1500; 2. The Food Scene Surveyed, 1500-1550; 3. The Widening World of Food, 1550-1600; 4. Science and the Search for Food, 1600-1640; 5. War and the Search for Food, 1640-1660; 6. Food in the Commercial Age, 1660-1700; 7. Food in an Industrialising Age, 1700-1760; 8. Regional and Social Patterns of Diet, 1500-1760; 9. A Closer Look at Some Foods; Bread; Meat of Farmyard Animals and Rabbits; Eggs and Bird Meat, Farm-Fed and Wild; Fish; Vegetables and Herbs. Fruit and Nuts; Drinks; Condiments and Spices; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

"compelling"   " a serious meticulously researched work of social history. It is precisely the scholarly yet approachable  kind of book that has long been Joan Thirk's stock-in-trade."   "appealingly straightforwad"   "she has crafted a comprehensive, elegantly written account of our nation's culinary history."

Joan Thirsk is the UK's leading historian of agriculture.

• Preface; List of Illustrations; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Setting the Scene Before 1500; 2. The Food Scene Surveyed, 1500-1550; 3. The Widening World of Food, 1550-1600; 4. Science and the Search for Food, 1600-1640; 5. War and the Search for Food, 1640-1660; 6. Food in the Commercial Age, 1660-1700; 7. Food in an Industrialising Age, 1700-1760; 8. Regional and Social Patterns of Diet, 1500-1760; 9. A Closer Look at Some Foods; Bread; Meat of Farmyard Animals and Rabbits; Eggs and Bird Meat, Farm-Fed and Wild; Fish; Vegetables and Herbs. Fruit and Nuts; Drinks; Condiments and Spices; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

"compelling"   " a serious meticulously researched work of social history. It is precisely the scholarly yet approachable  kind of book that has long been Joan Thirk's stock-in-trade."   "appealingly straightforwad"   "she has crafted a comprehensive, elegantly written account of our nation's culinary history."

Joan Thirsk is the UK's leading historian of agriculture.

• Preface; List of Illustrations; Abbreviations; Introduction; 1. Setting the Scene Before 1500; 2. The Food Scene Surveyed, 1500-1550; 3. The Widening World of Food, 1550-1600; 4. Science and the Search for Food, 1600-1640; 5. War and the Search for Food, 1640-1660; 6. Food in the Commercial Age, 1660-1700; 7. Food in an Industrialising Age, 1700-1760; 8. Regional and Social Patterns of Diet, 1500-1760; 9. A Closer Look at Some Foods; Bread; Meat of Farmyard Animals and Rabbits; Eggs and Bird Meat, Farm-Fed and Wild; Fish; Vegetables and Herbs. Fruit and Nuts; Drinks; Condiments and Spices; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

"compelling"   " a serious meticulously researched work of social history. It is precisely the scholarly yet approachable  kind of book that has long been Joan Thirk's stock-in-trade."   "appealingly straightforwad"   "she has crafted a comprehensive, elegantly written account of our nation's culinary history."