The Course of History: Ten Meals that Changed the World

Historian Stevenson (Stalin’s Legacy) entertains as he shows how food and wine served on momentous occasions shaped history. The book details 10 significant meals shared by world leaders over a 200-year span, along with the “epoch-changing decisions” made at those tables. In 1746 Scotland, a carousing dinner contributed to Bonnie Prince Charlie’s misguided decision to drive an exhausted Jacobite army into the unwinnable Battle of Culloden; at Adolf Hitler’s estate in Bavaria, a meager repast of barley broth and sausages contributed to the atmosphere of desperation that led Austrian Chancellor Kurt Von Schuschnigg to capitulate to Nazi forces in 1938; while a 1943 summit that started with “gigantic personality clashes” between FDR, Stalin, and Churchill (and featured a dinner a dinner of Persian barley soup, salmon with caviar, and Bloody Marys) ended with “clinking glasses” and a pact to end World War II. Stevenson masterfully connects political moments to their culinary backdrops, yet readers may tire of the male-centric stories. Recipes created by Scottish chef Tony Singh accompany each historic fete, and offerings such as Baked Alaska, (served in 1790 at Thomas Jefferson’s residence when Washington, D.C., was named the capital) and Hundred-Year-Old Eggs (preserved duck eggs enjoyed by Nixon and Zhou Enlai during diplomacy talks in Beijing) make for educational, if sometimes ambitious, dinner party fare. History buffs will enjoy Stevenson’s meticulous look at pivotal events through a culinary lens.[em] (Apr.) [/em]