Product Description

Cultivated by slaves, consumed by the elite, paid out as a tribute to conquerors, this tale of one of the world's favourite foods draws upon botany, archaeology, socio-economics and culinary history to provide a complete history of chocolate, beginning 3000 years ago in the jungles of Mexico. The book also includes quotations and old recipes,

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92106 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Review
'A true classic' - The Literary Review 'Richly detailed and illustrated... a delightful work' - The Independent on Sunday 'An indispensable companion to the chocolate lover' - Chocolatier 'A splendid treat' - The New York Review of Books 'Genuinely scholarly and highly entertaining... erudite and delightful' - The Sunday Telegraph 'Truly exceptional' - The Scotsman

About the Author
Sophie D. Coe was an anthropologist and food historian. Michael D. Coe is Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and Curator Emeritus in the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University, and is the author of the bestselling Breaking the Maya Code, also published by Thames & Hudson.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating reading, but veering toward academic approach
Have no doubts - this book really does cover the entire history of chocolate, and in incredible detail, However, if you're looking for a book with a lighter approach, this may not be the one for you as it really is a history book. The style of writing is never dull, but it is nevertheless more academic than you might be expecting. If it's a lighter dip-in read that you're after, you might prefer 'The Chocolate Connoisseur' by Chloe Doutre-Roussel (also available through Amazon).

However, don't be too offput by my comments. 'The true history of chocolate' IS a very good book and the fact that you're reading this review must mean that it's a topic of great interest to you. After all, there aren't that many books that deal with this topic in such interesting detail.

This book is a fantastic book - the depth is amazing.
If you are doing some serious research of the history of chocolate, but don't have the time and money to travel around the world, this book is for you. I know there's probably not many people who are this much into chocolate, but for me it's "chocolate" for the mind! :-)

Full of Facts
Full of Facts. A little bit like hard work to get through at times, perhaps a little dry and acedemic, but interesting no the less.