An edible history of humanity - Tom Standage

Throughout history, food has done more than simply provide sustenance. It has acted as a tool of social transformation, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict and economic expansion. In An Edible History of Humanity Tom Standage serves up a hugely satisfying account of ways in which food has, indirectly, helped to shape and transform societies around the world. It is a dazzling account of gastronomic revolutions from pre-history to the present.

TOM STANDAGE is business editor at The Economist and author of The Turk, The Neptune File and The Victorian Internet. He has also written for publications including the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, New York Times and Wired. He holds a degree in engineering and computer science from Oxford University, and is the least musical member of a musical family. He is married and lives in London. A History of the World in Six Glasses was published by Atlantic Books in 2007.