Books by Gervase Markham
“This is at least partly a work of fantasy; it’s Markham’s idea of how a household ought to be run, rather than what anyone actually did. Nonetheless what it reminds us of is the attenuated role of the modern housewife in comparison with what it used to be. It used to be like running a small business—you might typically have a staff of between five and five hundred people working for you to manage. And what Markham really clarifies is just how much knowledge this involved.” Read more...
The best books on The History of Food
Diane Purkiss, Historian
Interviews where books by Gervase Markham were recommended
The best books on The History of Food, recommended by Diane Purkiss
History too often glosses over basic questions of subsistence and food availability, argues Oxford academic Diane Purkiss—whose new book English Food is a social history told through the food on people’s tables. Here, she recommends five books about the history of food that focus on the diet of the common person as opposed to the royal banquet table.
