Food, Feast and Fast

This book aims to change our view of food and the lack of it. The format of short chapters with concise conclusions makes this book very attractive and readable. Lyons offers a magisterial history of feasting and fasting, from Cain and Abel to the ascetic monks on Skellig Michael off the coast of Kerry, from the long-term consequences of the Black Death to the challenge of Calvin, and from De Tocqueville’s comments on the American diet. We learn of changes in the design of kitchens and dining rooms, the introduction of forks and knives, and the histories of animal welfare and vegetarianism.