Consuming Passions is a lively and scholarly history of English food and appetite, tracing eating habits from Roman times through the Middle Ages, Victorians, and into the twentieth century, with a wry focus on the surprising links between food, religion, and sex. Illustrated throughout with period prints and engravings, it includes recipes for long-forgotten dishes and a striking pink-and-brown jacket design by Peter Bate.

Condition: Hardcover with pictorial paper sleeve/jacket, second impression. Boards are clean and sound with pink cloth spine. Jacket shows toning to the spine and edges, with foxing/staining along the fore-edge and a small chip/tear at the top corner. Text block is clean and tight; pages bright with light foxing at edges. Contains a handwritten presentation inscription on the half-title page dated 1971. Overall a well-presented reading copy with honest wear consistent with age.