An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage

This book is an  interesting look at history from the perspective of how food has affected events in history. It's really refreshing to read about history in a way that isn't directed by political intrigue and war. So often that's the main focus in high school history class that it's difficult to remember that war and governmental disagreements weren't the only things going on in the past. Many more people might actually like history if it was told from different angles, and food is definitely something we can all understand.

The author begins by discussing the dawn of agriculture and how through farming foods like what we now know to be corn, we were able to form towns, cities, and even metropolises. Trade is discussed as is the migration of food from one place to another and how that effected its value, like Indian spices for the rest of the world. That value then inspired Columbus to travel to the Americas looking for a fast, cheap way to get spices and how he brought back foods like corn, potatoes, and more. Corn, wheat, and potatoes are discussed in terms of their value and, in the situation of the potato, how they had to overcome certain stigmas to be widely appreciated. Food is discussed as a crucial aspect of war, and how managing one's food supply gave one army the edge over another, or a country over its people. Food preservation and growing methods also changed the world, and now people use food origins as a social statement of sorts. There are several fascinating chapters from the dawn of man to present day.

The author doesn't say that certain events in history would not have eventually happened if food wasn't the main motivator, but that it was one of the pieces to many of the events that define our past. Food is such a crucial part of our existence; it literally sustains us. It makes sense to look at the role food has played in our decisions, past and present, because without it we wouldn't be. Having a basic knowledge of history will help you better understand the book and piece together the events, but the author writes quite well and describes the situations in some detail, so I'm sure you won't be completely lost if you have no knowledge at all. Overall, a really interesting book.

Also: I listened to this as an audio book, and it was well done, but the narrator has a whistling 's' that gets to be quite annoying. He also tries to do an accent for all of the quotations put into the book and fails at most of them. I'd say he was the worst part of the experience for me, but it's a good book so I recommend reading it.