The many influences of the past on our diet today make the concept of 'British food' very hard to define. The Celts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans all brought ingredients to the table, as it were, and onwards the Crusades gave us all manner of spices. The Georgians enjoyed a new level of excess and then of course the world wars forced us into the challenge of making meals from very little. This brand new addition, and fourth volume, to Tasting the Past, documents the rich history of our food, its fads and its fashions, to be combined with a practical cookbook of over 200 recipes from the Second World War onwards.