Pickled, Potted, and Canned

New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Hardcover. Mustard boards, maroon cloth covered spine. Fine, in fine dust wrapper. 366 pages. 24 x 16 cm. The ability to preserve food was the key that liberated humans from the anxious life of the hunter-gatherer, forced to follow migrating herds or to forage for seasonal berries and leaves. The development of portable, preserved food enabled the great explorers to travel into the unknown and gradually map the planet, facilitated the conquest of new territories by great armies and navies, and created routes for the expansion of trade and the exchange of knowledge and culture that opened up our world. From the primitive techniques of drying and salting to the latest methods that have allowed us to feed space travel, this book tells it all. Interior, boards, and dust wrapper pristine.