This is a fascinating and timely study of the far-flung sources of our food supply

After reading this you’ll never sit down to dinner without finding a trace of empire in your meal again

A wholly pleasing book, which offers a tasty side dish to anyone exploring the narrative history of the British Empire

Revelatory... Original, thought-provoking and highly entertaining

Dazzling… This book’s treatment of food in the empire is innovative and exciting… A remarkable achievement

Fascinating… This is a marvellously wide-ranging and readable book, stuffed with engaging details and startling connections

Joyously delicious…In her original and supremely captivating book, [Collingham] has cleverly recreated the fine details of some 20 meals, consumed for four and a half centuries in a variety of homes and ships and tented encampments far from the motherland…In British terms, she is Henry Mayhew and Mass-Observation rolled into one—a stellar observer of the day-to-day and the mundane, a social historian of extraordinary talent

The Hungry Empire is impressively scholarly… it is also fascinating. And although Collingham does not flinch from the cruelties and brutalities of empire, she refrains from the self-congratulatory finger-wagging indulged in by some modern historians

Some of the most revelatory anecdotes are the funniest… As with all her work, Collingham has read most of what matters and has selected from it with a lively eye… She can unwind suggestive strands of evidence to lead readers through the labyrinth… Her brisk narrative of the origins of IPA is exemplary

Fascinating… Collingham’s decision to organize her enormously ambitious research around a series of intimate family meals is a good one. Material that would otherwise be numbingly abstract is made profoundly personal… You will certainly enjoy the journey

One of the best, most readable practitioners of the dynamic field of food history

This ingeniously constructed history shows that what we think of as personal appetites have largely been constructed by the machinations of empire. The Hungry Empire uses vivid snapshots of meals to tell the story of how Britain's quest for food drove its imperial ambitions. Collingham takes the reader on a powerful journey ... Like Sidney Mintz or Margaret Visser, Collingham is a historian whose writing about food informs larger stories about human existence: about conflict and culture, about economics and politics. I was dazzled by Collingham's writing and her book also left me very hungry

A masterpiece…Xu is the only known escapee from Mao’s prisons

Gripping, moving and eye-opening

A tremendous amount of research has gone into Enemies and Neighbors; the writing is straightforward, fast-paced and lucid; and it pulled me right to the end, despite the heavy nature of its topic. An excellent read that offers a true portrayal of the situation

Mark imparts knowledge about Christmas traditions from the essential to the (very) abstruse in wry and sardonic style. An effortless and enjoyable way to learn more about this fulcrum of our calendar

With his casual elegance and melodious voice, Mark Forsyth has an anachronistic charm totally at odds with the 21st century

[The Etymologicon is] a perfect bit of stocking filler for the bookish member of the family, or just a cracking all-year-round-read. Highly recommended

A treat for the connoisseur who enjoys a robust anecdote from the past with his drink

As good as promised - could have been thrice as long

Witty and revelatory. Blooming brilliant