Food in Nineteenth-Century British History

Volume 4 examines the British diet from its colonial and global perspectives. Colonialism combined with rapidly improving global transport networks introduced the British introduced to a plethora of unfamiliar foods from overseas. Changing economic trading patterns also impacted massively on the changing British diet. Emigration (inwards and outwards) and military service further encouraged a global inter-mingling of diets and palates. The British stomach was introduced to new spices and herbs either at home or abroad although fears persisted that the British constitution was ill-suited to rich foreign foods. A selection of sources will bring to life how the increasingly globalised world changed British eating habits while introducing readers to the many debates surrounding this transition.