The Routledge History of Food
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Book Description
The history of food is one of the fastest growing areas of historical investigation, incorporating methods and theories from cultural, social, and women’s history while forging a unique perspective on the past. The Routledge History of Food takes a global approach to this topic, focusing on the period from 1500 to the present day.
Arranged chronologically, this title contains 17 originally commissioned chapters by experts in food history or related topics. Each chapter focuses on a particular theme, idea or issue in the history of food. The case studies discussed in these essays illuminate the more general trends of the period, providing the reader with insight into the large-scale and dramatic changes in food history through an understanding of how these developments sprang from a specific geographic and historical context.
Examining the history of economic, technological, and cultural interactions between cultures and charting the corresponding developments in food history, The Routledge History of Food challenges readers' assumptions about what and how people have eaten, bringing fresh perspectives to well-known historical developments. It is the perfect guide for all students of social and cultural history.
Table of Contents
Introduction. 1500-1700 1. The Magic of Japanese Rice Cakes 2. Food Production, Consumption and Identity Politics in Tahuantinsuyu and Colonial Perú 3. Stimulants and Intoxicants in Europe, 1500-1700 4. Science, Food and Health in Chosŏn Korea 1700-1900 5. Food Shortage in New Spain: Maize, Food Policies and the Construction of a Patriotic Identity, 1785-1807 6. "If the King had really been a father to us": Failed Food Diplomacy in Eighteenth-Century Sierra Leone 7. Stolen Bodies, Edible Memories: The Influence and Function of West African Foodways in the Early British Atlantic 8. Spreading the Word: Using Cookbooks and Colonial Memoirs to Examine the Foodways of British Colonials in Asia, 1850-1900 9. The Globalization of Alcohol and Temperance from the Gin Craze to Prohibition 10. "Peace on earth among the orders of creation": Vegetarian Ethics in the United States Before World War I 11. Food, Medicine and Institutional Life in the British Isles, c.1790-1900 12. Industrializing Diet, Industrializing Ourselves: Technology, Energy, and Food, 1750-2000 1990-present 13. The Evolution of a Fast Food Phenomenon: The Case of American Pizza 14. Cooking Class: The Rise of the "Foodie" and the Role of Mass Media 15. Tourism, Cuisine, and the Consumption of Culture in the Caribbean 16. Food and Migration in the Twentieth Century 17. Quick Rice: International Development and the Green Revolution in Sierra Leone, 1960-1976
Editor(s)
Biography
Carol Helstosky is Associate Professor of History at Denver University. Her publications include Food Culture in the Mediterranean (2009), Pizza: A Global History (2008) and Garlic and Oil: Food and Politics in Modern Italy (2004).
Reviews
'Whether motivated by an interest in history or food, all readers will find much to stimulate their thinking in this book. Carol Helstosky has assembled a collection of essays that reflects how diverse and rich the field of food history has become and establishes it as a research specialisation in its own right that contributes much to the discipline. Focussed on the last 500 years, the collection provides a synthesis of research that charts the direction of the field and reflects the transformation of the world food system within the broader historical context; a valuable resource that will introduce food history to a broad audience and inspire historians to recognise the significance of food for understanding the past and the everyday.'
Adele Wessell, Southern Cross University, Australia