An Edible History of Humanity

By: Tom Standage

Narrated by: George K. Wilson

Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Throughout history, food has acted as a catalyst of social change, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes---caused, enabled, or influenced by food---has helped to shape and transform societies around the world.

©2009 Tom Standage (P)2009 Tantor

Interesting, not really memorable

Any additional comments?

I came into this after finishing A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage, and while he presents some interesting points about the impact of food on history, it isn't as catchy or memorable as the first book.

Amazing summary of historical events and food

What did you love best about An Edible History of Humanity?

The way it was written was both chronological and topical. Incredibly well written and the narrator makes it come to life!

What was one of the most memorable moments of An Edible History of Humanity?

Christopher Columbus was such a crazy failure....I imagine his convincing the royalty in Spain to look like a Court Jester trying to get tips!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What's Food got to do with it? - Humanity is not possible without the greed of food and flavor

Any additional comments?

One of my top 5 food and history books!

Great book

Interesting and informative, just as good as the history of the world in 6 glasses.

Not as good as "6 Glasses" but fascinating

Any additional comments?

Excellent book on the subject for those interested. I didn't find the info presented as interesting or well organized as his "A History of the World in 6 Glasses," but I still enjoyed the book thoroughly. For those of you who are reading this as a first by the author, definitely get "Glasses" first.

The reading by Wilson was excellent, as he always is. (If you like his voice, he was amazing for Citizen Soldiers, which is best in the Unabridged version.

If you happen to like the subject of the history of food, like me, one book I can totally recommend is "Salt: A World History," by Mark Kurlansky. It's a bit long and detailed, but I loved that about the book and the whole history was fascinating. It was also well read by Scott Brick, who has a great reading voice.

I thought the content was very interesting

I found the content very interesting and eye opening. The narration was not particularly captivating.

Narrator is boring

Struggled to pay attention. I restarted it a few times. Eventually I had to give up.

Needs updating

Newer research into human anthropology has made some of this info obsolete. It needs updating. Also, the audio quality was spotty: the volume would drastically drop for no reason for a few minutes, then raise again. But interesting overall, if slow-paced.

Not as good as 6 Glasses

Material was fine. Nowhere near as good as 6 Glasses. Narrator was abysmal. Truly killed any enjoyment. I do NOT recommend. Thanks.

excellent content acceptable performance

The content of the book is wonderful, briefly covering many interesting topics with some in depth material but never becoming so engrossed in a single topic as to bore the reader (listener). The narrator is a bit plodding and by speeding up the playback to 110% or even 115% the performance breaks out of the doldrums and into the realm of the earnestly excited professor lecturing on their absolute favorite subject. I would highly recommend this audiobook to anyone inclined towards history.

Pretty Good

I definitely don't regret listening to it. It wasn't quite what I expected; it wasn't very "fun", but it was continually educational.