Books like Food in antiquity by Don R. Brothwell

Surveys the evolution of man's diverse gastronomic habits, customs, and traditions against their cultural and historical background.

American eating changed dramatically in the early twentieth century. As food production became more industrialized, nutritionists, home economists, and so-called racial scientists were all pointing Americans toward a newly scientific approach to diet. Food faddists were rewriting the most basic rules surrounding eating, while reformers were working to reshape the diets of immigrants and the poor. And by the time of World War I, the country's first international aid program was bringing moral advice about food conservation into kitchens around the country. In this book the author argues that the twentieth-century food revolution was fueled by a powerful conviction that Americans had a moral obligation to use self-discipline and reason, rather than taste and tradition, in choosing what to eat. She weaves together cultural history and the history of science to bring readers into the strange and complex world of the American Progressive Era. The era's emphasis on science and self-control left a profound mark on American eating, one that remains today in everything from the ubiquity of science-based dietary advice to the tenacious idealization of thinness. --From publisher's website.

A magisterial history of the titanic struggle between the Roman and Jewish worlds that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.Martin Goodman--equally renowned in Jewish and in Roman studies--examines this conflict, its causes, and its consequences with unprecedented authority and thoroughness. He delineates the incompatibility between the cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices of the two peoples and explains how Rome's interests were served by a policy of brutality against the Jews. At the same time, Christians began to distance themselves from their origins, becoming increasingly hostile toward Jews as Christian influence spread within the empire. This is the authoritative work of how these two great civilizations collided and how the reverberations are felt to this day.From the Trade Paperback edition.

An overview of food history from hunter‑gatherers to the present, tracing agriculture, global exchanges, industrialization, and modern challenges such as famine, obesity, GMOs, and fast food.

An encyclopedic reference covering 2,650 food-related entries – from ingredients and cooking terms to cultural habits, traditions, and chef biographies – compiled over twenty years by Alan Davidson.