Introduction: of turtles, dining and the importance of history in food, food in history

Feasting on North American moose or Caribbean turtle in Renaissance Italy, Ancient Rome, or the colonial working-class pub, is Social and Cultural history in a new and exciting form. Dining on Turtles traverses time and place to open up food and drink as a new field of historical enquiry. In chapters covering the heritage landscapes of sugar canefields, the reform of popular drinking customs, the importance of eating and drinking culture to Olympic Games planning, and the significance of cookbooks to civic society, historians here break new ground in locating food's importance. From the exploration of French tavern rituals, Scottish feasting on haggis, and memories of food traditions in Cyprus come themes of identity and nationalism, change and continuity.