The Magic Harvest: Food, Folkore and Society

"The Magic Harvest is a concentrated broth of pieces every bit as rich as the cuisine that forms the focus of [Camporesi's] study. There is a convincing unity in these essays. Together, they offer a scholarly history of the slow shifts in the dietary geography and regimes of Italy to the present, a masterly display of the interdisciplinary skills food history demands and of the exciting range of questions it poses, and, not least, a provocative argument about the reasons for, and costs of, the comparatively recent 'invention' of a national 'Italian' cuisine. Coming after Bread of Dreams, this book confirms Piero Camporesi's importance in the evolving field of the history of food." John Walter, University of Essex

"A collection of fascinating scholarly essays ... excellent insight into a culture which most people may only rather simplistically associate with a relatively scant diet of pasta, pizza, tripe and escalopes of veal." The Good Book Guide

"Piero Camporesi is one of the most stimulating and path-breaking historians." Roy Porter