Food Fights & Rough Spirits Set

The British Library
A set of two eclectic histories of food and drink to whet any book lover’s appetite.

‘Food Fights & Culture Wars’ traces the changing tastes, habits and foodstuffs in a cultural history of food. This entertaining tour draws upon early cookbooks and food writing: including discursive chapters on Roman pisciculture (fish farming), how extracts revolutionised portable food and Marmite appeared in First World War rations, the evolution of dinner parties, the revolutionary impact of chocolate and the history of the barbecue.

Meanwhile the sister volume, ‘Rough Spirits & High Society’, demonstrates how drinking has changed the world, exploring the tavern, inn, pub, coffee house and tea shop as society creates new excuses to meet and share a beverage. From alcohol to chocolate and caffeine, this history is full of moral outrage and political turmoil, plus the codes of behaviour and shared rituals associated with certain drinks and places to consume them.

With delightful illustrations throughout each book mixing period manuscripts, prints, paintings, objects and ephemera. This set is a fascinating blend of science, exploration, origin myths, fads and forgotten crazes: you’ll never look at your supper in the same way again.

Set of two hardbacks
Food Fights & Culture Wars:
25 x 17.5cm
224 pages
First published 2016
Rough Spirits & High Society:
24.5 x 17cm
176 pages
First published 2017
Both illustrated throughout in colour and black-and-white