Repast (British Museum)
The Story of Food - Winner of the Best in the World Gourmand Award 2025
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Thames & Hudson Ltd
Published:24th Apr '25
Should be back in stock very soon
A deliciously fascinating, expertly written global tour of cooking, eating and drinking, told through objects in the collections of the British Museum.
Our insatiable appetite for creativity in the kitchen – or around the open fire – is reflected in the fascinating array of objects explored in this book. Authored by food writer Jenny Linford in consultation with curators from the British Museum, Repast focuses on artefacts in the museum’s collections – from ancient clay cooking vessels to exquisite gold goblets – spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Australasia, from prehistory to the present day.
Arranged into thirteen broad themes such as Hunting, Alcohol, Religion, Feasting and Eating Out, with lavish plates accompanying absorbing essays on subjects including tea (the world’s most consumed drink after water), pork (the world’s most widely consumed meat), and wheat (the source of 20% of the world’s human calorie consumption), Repast conveys the extraordinary global story of food, drink and the culinary arts.
This clearly structured, beautifully illustrated book will engage and delight the growing audience interested in the history of food and drink.
'Repast ranges around the world and through the British Museum to offer a global account of our complex relationship with food … Covering topics from the most ancient cooking utensils to our current interest in nose-to-tail eating, this beautiful book informs, surprises, and entertains in equal measure' - Professor Rebecca Earle
'I can't think of a better guide than Jenny Linford … as fresh and engaging as she is highly knowledgeable' - Niki Segnit
'A wonderfully accessible and insightful read to be savoured. Five stars' - All About History
'A rare beast; a coffee table book that’s compulsive reading. A thing of beauty … with gorgeous full-page illustrations. But it is far more than that. [Linford] is a skilful storyteller. Her whistlestop tour can convey more in one page than many food monographs in 300' - The Spectator
'What an achievement … Repast’s depth and breadth – and beauty – is extraordinary. Every picture and object is a revelation' - Pen Vogler, author of 'Scoff', a 'Sunday Times' History Book of the Year
'Scholarly, engaging, mouthwatering and often moving, Repast tells the millennia-long story of food, intertwined with, and beautifully illustrated by artefacts from the British Museum’s collection. Linford explores the relationship between food and religion, the culture of eating out and in, and the future of food in an uncertain world. An invaluable addition to the canon of food history, Repast is about more than food and drink, it's about being human' - Ned Palmer, author of the ‘Sunday Times’ bestseller ‘A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles’
'Any attempt to trace this consistent but complex relationship risks biting off more than you can chew, but in this wide-ranging book, Jenny Linford serves up a very satisfying overview. In around 250 pages, she covers a huge geographical and chronological span, focusing not just on what past populations ate, but how we have fed ourselves over time, as well as examining how this need has shaped our material culture, drawing on the collections of the British Museum to illustrate each point with a wealth of interesting artefacts ... Packed with interesting information – and, with over 300 images, it is also a visual feast' - Current World Archaeology
'Essays are lively, and the many plates useful for anyone who needs to see to learn' - Financial Times
ISBN: 9780500481158
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 1070g
256 pages