Books like In the Devil's Garden by Stewart Lee Allen

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black tobacco farmer whose cancer cells were taken in 1951 without her consent and later became the first immortal human cell line, HeLa, driving major scientific breakthroughs while raising questions of ethics, race, and medical exploitation.

Journalist and food critic Jeffrey Steingarten tackles his culinary fears— from kimchi to blue‑faced foods—while sampling global dishes, experimenting with baking, and defending savory staples in a humorous, food‑centric memoir.

A debut poetry collection by Adrian Matejka that blends jazz, blues, and personal history to explore identity, heritage, and the rhythms of African American and Native American experience.

Seldom has the subject of eating and drinking—from the Bronze Age to the recent past—been treated to a full- length history. It deserves better. Part I of The HORIZON COOKBOOK AND ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF EATING AND DRINKING THROUGH THE AGES is a history of civilized man’s long culinary heritage. Woven into the historical narrative are hundreds of anecdotes and incidents that make intriguing reading and bear mealtime retelling. THE RECIPES: The more than 600 recipes in Part II are the largest collection of historical recipes ever assembled in a single volume. The collection gives every cook – from novice - to cordon bleu chef - a chance to create savory and unusual dishes from a wide range of periods and places. The recipes have been tested and adapted for use in modern home kitchens by a special staff headed by Tatiana McKenna, a leading food authority and Contributing Food Editor of Vogue magazine. Mimi Sheraton, the book’s Historical Foods Consultant, has helped the editors re-create 19 menus from great historic occasions. THE ILLUSTRATIONS: There are pictures on every page of the historical narrative, and ten picture portfolios. All told, the book contains some 570 illustrations, 110 in color. It is probably the largest collection ever brought together on the subject. BOOK JACKET

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Mayor of Bellay, cousin of Madame Recamier, Chevalier de l'Empire, author of A History of Duelling and a number of racy stories (unfortunately lost), whose sister died in her hundredth year having just finished a good meal and shouting loudly for her dessert, is now best known for his "Physiologie du Gout", which was first published in December 1825. The work has a timeless appeal - being wise, witty and anecdotal, containing some of the best recipes for food and some of the most satisfactory observations on life.

"Why are there restaurants? Why would anybody consider eating to be an enjoyable leisure activity or even a serious pastime? To find the answer to these questions, we must accompany Rebecca Spang back to France in the eighteenth century, when a restaurant was not a place to eat but a thing to eat: a quasi-medicinal bouillon that formed an essential element of prerevolutionary France's nouvelle cuisine. This is a book about the French Revolution in taste and of the table - a book about how Parisians invented the modern culture of food, thereby changing their own social life and that of the world."--BOOK JACKET.