Bread: A Global History

By William Rubel

It is difficult to think of a food more basic, more essential, and more universal than bread. Common to the diets of both the rich and the poor, bread is one of our oldest foods. Loaves and rolls have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs, and wheat has been found in pits where human settlements flourished 8,000 years ago. Many anthropologists argue that the ability to sow and reap cereals, the grains necessary for making bread, could be one of the main reasons why man settled in communities, and even today the concept of "breaking bread together" is a lasting symbol of the uniting power of a meal. Bread is an innovative mix of traditional history, cultural history, travelogue, and cookbook. William Rubel begins with the amazing invention of bread approximately 20,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent and ends by speculating on the ways in which cultural forces and advances in biotechnology may influence the development of bread in the twenty-first century. Rubel shows how simple choices, may be responsible for the widespread preference for wheat over other bread grains and for the millennia-old association of elite dining with white bread. He even provides an analysis of the different components of bread, such as crust and crumb, so that readers may better understand the breads they buy. With many recipes integrated with the text and a glossary covering one hundred breads, Bread goes well beyond the simple choice of white or wheat. Here, general readers will find an approachable introduction to the history of bread and to the many forms that bread takes throughout the world, and bread bakers will discover a history of the craft and new ways of thinking that will inspire experimentation.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1861898541
• ISBN13: 9781861898548
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Too expensive for quality of the product

I needed this book, but I am supremely disappointed in the quality. This book was nearly $50, and the cover is dirty and multiple pages have markings. It should have been a way cheaper price. If I could have waited for a better quality book, I would have. The other books in the series are not nearly as expensive, and are a way better quality. It just makes it harder than it needs to be read and enjoy the book.