The Taste of Empire

October 15, 2017

This historical study of how Britain charged its way across the globe is told through a culinary lens that zooms in closely at the onset of each chapter then pulls back for factual context. We are invited to 20 meals, beginning with a serving of salt cod in 1545, and ending with a curry buffet in 1996. Collingham's (Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food) scholarship is evident; the book is weighted with facts. At times, this academic approach feels overly formal, particularly after reading the chapter that starts with a sensory anecdote of what it was like to break bread--literally--in specific time periods. Readers are treated to a meal of salt cod, sugar, rice, and beef, and then sift patiently through the narrative context. There are moments when the plate feels a little too clean, particularly as it relates to how the empire exploited the enslaved, though Collingham does nod toward these atrocities. VERDICT A thorough work of scholarship with an academic slant that is strongest when told through its anecdotes.--Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2017
That storied empire on which the sun never set depended on keeping itself well fed. Historian Collingham writes about the British Empire from a unique perspective, tracing how food provoked imperial expansion and transformed both conquerors and subjected peoples. The history of West Indian sugar, African slavery, and American colonization is an oft-told tale, but Collingham takes mere mercantilism and expands and deepens its consequences. As the empire grew, keeping the nation's troops fed was a major industry in itself. Administrators, soldiers, and sailors returned with hungers for the foods and spices they enjoyed abroad, and homeland importers and suppliers had to adapt to these novel tastes. Even opium entered into the trade equation. As Collingham discovers, William Blake's dark satanic mills were quite likely a smoke-belching Thameside food-processing plant. This unique approach to British history holds appeal for both professional historians and everyday buffs and includes a comprehensive bibliography and a few historical recipes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)