Research Guides: HIST 001M: History of Food (SC): Overviews of Food & Food History

Why use reference books?

Use the index (or search) these books to identify entries related to your topic or areas of interest. You might not find entries that narrowly focus on your topic; if so, try to find entries that relate broadly.

Use reference books to:

Contextualize your topic (and get background information)
Find search terms (for use in databases and primary source collections)
Identify which aspects of a topic interest you
Get citations for relevant books, articles, and primary source collections
Identify which scholars have written about the topic
Identify areas of debate and disagreement in the scholarly literature

Overviews of Food & Food History

Oxford Reference
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Useful collection of reference books, searchable online (includes some, but not all of the food reference books on this page)

The Cambridge World History of Food by Kenneth F. Kiple (Editor); Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas (Editor)
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Call Number: S McCabe Reference (Main Floor) TX353 .C255 2000 v.1 and 2
ISBN: 0521402166
Publication Date: 2000-10-09
Ranging from the eating habits of our prehistoric ancestors to food-related policy issues we face today, this work covers the full spectrum of foods that have been hunted, gathered, cultivated, and domesticated; their nutritional makeup and uses; and their impact on cultures and demography. It offers a geographical perspective on the history and culture of food and drink and takes up subjects from food fads, prejudices, and taboos to questions of food toxins, additives, labeling, and entitlements. It culminates in a dictionary that identifies and sketches out brief histories of plant foods mentioned in the text--over 1,000 in all--and additionally supplies thousands of common names and synonyms for those foods.

Available as a print book and an ebook at Swarthmore.
The Oxford Companion to Food by Soun Vannithone (Illustrator); Jane Davidson (Editor); Helen Saberi (As told to); Alan Davidson; Tom Jaine (Editor)
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Call Number: S McCabe Reference (Main Floor) + TX349 .D36 2006
ISBN: 0192806815
Publication Date: 2006-10-01
The most comprehensive international encyclopedia about food, its subjects include food plants, animals, birds, fish, cooked foods, foods having to do with culture, religion, and diets, cookery authors, culinary terms and techniques, and scientific topics. Although international in scope, it places emphasis on continents other than Europe and North America. (from the Choice Review)

Available as a print book at Swarthmore.
The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink by Andrew F. Smith (Editor)
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Call Number: S McCabe Reference (Main Floor) + TX349 .O94 2007
ISBN: 9780195307962
Publication Date: 2007-05-01
Offering a panoramic view of the history and culture of food and drink in America with fascinating entries on everything from the smell of asparagus to the history of White Castle, and the origin of Bloody Marys to jambalaya. Edited by Andrew Smith, a writer and lecturer on culinary history, the Companion includes hundreds of entries on fast food, celebrity chefs, fish, sandwiches, regional and ethnic cuisine, food science, and historical food traditions.

Available as a print book and an ebook at Swarthmore.

Find reference entries on your ingredient [Tripod search]
An example showing how to search Tripod for reference entries related to your topic.

To find your topic: Change the keyword from "barley" to your ingredient, then search.

Overviews of Historical Scholarship

Carefully reading book reviews can give you a sense for what scholars have written about a particular topic, event, or issue. Rather than just finding individual articles or books, you can use book reviews and review articles to get an overview of the conversation among scholars on the topic that interests you.

Reviews in American History
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Use this journal to find detailed book reviews in American history. These reviews can be helpful for understanding the historiography related to your topic.

To find reviews related to this course, click on the S for Swarthmore. Then click on the "Project Muse" link. Click "Search Journal" and then search for (e.g.) "food." You'll find links to review articles such as "The Culinary Colonization of the American West," "Eating Democracy and Corn Puppies," and "The Marketing of Southern Identity."
Handbooks and Companions
You can use a relevant Blackwell Companion to get a sense for the time and place you are studying as well as the relevant historiography. Identifying relevant people, organizations, and institutions can help you find archives and other collections of primary sources.

Overviews of US History

These reference sources can be helpful for defining your topic, finding background information, and placing your topic within the broader context of scholarship on US history.

Encyclopedia of American History by Gary B. Nash (Editor)
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Call Number: S McCabe Reference (Main Floor) E174 .E53 2003 volumes 1-10
ISBN: 081604371X
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
10-volume encyclopedia offering overviews of US history.

Available as a print book.
Dictionary of American History by Stanley I. Kutler
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ISBN: 0684805332
Publication Date: 2002-12-11
Contains overviews of major topics in US history. Despite the title "dictionary," many of the entries in this book are multiple pages in length and offer a solid overview of scholarship on the topic.

The 3rd edition of this classic reference work places increased emphasis on social, cultural, and demographic topics. It retains coverage of political, military, and economic developments in American history. Like preceding editions, it does not include biographical entries, though major historical figures may be traced by means of the index.

Available as an ebook.
Africana by Kwame Anthony Appiah (Editor); Henry Louis Gates (Editor)
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Call Number: S McCabe Reference (Main Level) DT14 .A37435 2005
ISBN: 0195170555
Publication Date: 2005-04-07
More than 4,000 articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religion, ethnic groups, organizations and countries on both sides of the Atlantic. African American history and culture in the present-day United States receive astrong emphasis, but African American history and culture throughout the rest of the Americas and their origins in African itself have an equally strong presence.

Available as a print book.

HIST 001M: History of Food (SC)

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Why use reference books?

Overviews of Food & Food History

Overviews of Historical Scholarship

Overviews of US History