With Standage it is not what changes in food that matters, but rather what food changes. The emphasis on food as a cultural catalyst differentiates Standage from Michael Pollan, whose plants' eye view of the world keeps the consumables central. Using this approach he demonstrates how changes in food production, technology and consumption have dragged humanity forwards from its hunter-gatherer days. But instead of casting backwards for one thread to stitch everything together, Standage sensibly casts a net, writing not a history of any one food but a history through food. A few, in fact, since he highlights a dozen foods and spices with outsize personalities. Tom Standage could have written a similar 'noun' book. Barnum appeal in this: you are aware codfish or whatever didn't really transform the universe by itself, but part of the fun is being taken in by the audacious cleverness of tying all of history to one foodstuff. "Never mind the contradictions, you can buy books proving that curry, oranges, salt or beef each single-handedly made our world modern. This is an extraordinary and well-told story, a much neglected dimension of history."- Financial Times "A fascinating history of the role of food in causing, enabling and influencing successive transformations of human society. "Tom Standage does an admirable job of showing the ‘invisible fork' behind the fate of nations."- Nature
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