Peter Lund Simmonds, an outstanding 19th-century author, affords a tasty exploration of world gastronomy in his masterful work, "The Curiosities of Food: Or, The Dainties and Delicacies of Different Nations Obtained from the Animal Kingdom." Simmonds, an English author and agriculturalist, invites readers on a charming journey via the various culinary landscapes of diverse cultures. In this illuminating tome, the subtitle, "Or The Dainties And Delicacies Of Different Nations Obtained From The Animal Kingdom," guidelines at the focal point at the animal state as a wealthy supply of culinary treasures. Simmonds delves into the abnormal and distinct ingredients loved by using exclusive societies, weaving together a story that combines history, lifestyle, and gastronomy. With a keen eye for detail, Simmonds in all likelihood explores the cultural significance of diverse dishes, dropping light at the numerous techniques of acquiring sustenance from the animal country. From time-honored traditions to innovative culinary practices, the book is probable a treasure trove of statistics at the methods in which exceptional nations have harnessed the bounty of nature for his or her gastronomic delights.

Sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch—as they were celebrated during the Enlightenment and as they are perceived today. Blindfolding children from birth? Playing a piano made of live cats? Using tobacco to cure drowning? Wearing “flea”-colored clothes? These actions may seem odd to us, but in the eighteenth century, they made perfect sense. As often as we use our senses, we rarely stop to think about their place in history. But perception is not dependent on the body alone. Carolyn Purnell persuasively shows that, while our bodies may not change dramatically, the way we think about the senses and put them to use has been rather different over the ages. Journeying through the past three hundred years, Purnell explores how people used their senses in ways that might shock us now. And perhaps more surprisingly, she shows how many of our own ways of life are a legacy of this earlier time. The Sensational Past focuses on the ways in which small, peculiar, and seemingly unimportant facts open up new ways of thinking about the past. You will explore the sensory worlds of the Enlightenment, learning how people in the past used their senses, understood their bodies, and experienced the rapidly shifting world around them. In this smart and witty work, Purnell reminds us of the value of daily life and the power of the smallest aspects of existence using culinary history, fashion, medicine, music, and many other aspects of Enlightenment life.

This bibliography of more than three thousand entries, often extensively annotated, lists books and pamphlets that illuminate evolving British views on the United States during a period of great change on both sides of the Atlantic. Subjects addressed in various decades include slavery and abolitionism, women's rights, the Civil War, organized labor, economic, cultural, and social behavior, political and religious movements, and the "American" character in general.