Food and Drink in American History: A "Full Course" Encyclopedia

Gr 7 Up—With 664 alphabetically listed entries and 128 primary documents about people, businesses, historical periods, and food or drink items, the author's aim of providng an alternative look at American History has been met. An introductory discussion of food is subdivided by historical eras; following that is the main body of entries, which range from a third of a page to longer than six pages in length each and have black-and-white illustrations and historical recipes sprinkled throughout. Entries close with cross references and further reading lists featuring predominantly print material. Helpfully for collections supporting Common Core requirements, the last volume has primary documents that date from 1539–2012 and include letters, newspaper articles, book excerpts, and laws—even menus from the Titanic are listed. The somewhat similar Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2012) is more scholarly, but lacks recipes. Teachers and libraries that support general history enthusiasts will find a lot of use for this work.—Ann West LaPrise, Huron School District, New Boston, MI