A review by elexa
An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage

3.0

This book is not about food, or eating. Why did I think it was? I thought I was going to be reading a history about food and its role in history. I think if anything, this is an economic and political history of food. On occasion, the author touches on the bioengineering of food (like how corn was artificially selected to become something edible) but mostly this is about economics and politics. I really wanted to read about what Egyptians had for breakfast and how food has changed throughout human history. If that's what you're looking for, this book isn't really for you. Saying all that, it's not a completely useless book as it does explain the spice trade, the blockade of Berlin, the Great Leap Forward in China... but this is not really about food. It's about transporting food, paying for food, and using it as a weapon against people. It is not about what people ate or why.