Books by Andrew Dalby

For centuries, the food and culinary delights of the Byzantine empire - centred on Constantinople - have captivated the west, although it appeared that very little information had been passed down to us. Andrew Dalby's "Tastes of Byzantium" now reveals in astonishing detail, for the first time, what was eaten in the court of the Eastern Roman Empire - and how it was cooked. Fusing the spices of the Romans with the seafood and simple local food of the Aegean and Greek world, the cuisine of the Byzantines was unique and a precursor to much of the food of modern Turkey and Greece. Bringing this vanished cuisine to life in vivid and sensual detail, Dalby describes the sights and smells of Constantinople and its marketplaces, relates travellers' tales and paints a comprehensive picture of the recipes and customs of the empire and their relationship to health and the seasons, love and medicine. For food-lovers and historians alike, "Tastes of Byzantium" is both essential and riveting - an extraordinary illumination of everyday life in the Byzantine world.

Gifts of the Gods: A History of Food in Greece is a comprehensive history of Greek food from prehistoric times to the 21st century. The book reveals the many links between ancient and modern, and features numerous recipes, firmly based in Greek tradition, which the reader can try at home.

310 Nights at Anchor (and holding) describes the life of a couple who sold their house and bought a sailing yacht to live at sea off the west coast of Scotland. Based upon the journal they kept it seeks to illustrate the advantages and challenges of an "off-grid", semi nomadic existence. Effecting radical life changes involves risk and the possibility of disappointment or of making a disastrous mistake. This true story addresses these issues offering advice and encouragement for others who would follow suit. The day to day chronicle is interspersed with comments on news events, points of historical interest, literary quotations and some of the author's own poems. As atypical as its creator, this book is hard to categorise for it is part travel writing, part poetry, part confessional and part philosophy; but above all it is thought provoking!

This guide to the languages of the world details more than 400 languages in a clear A-Z style.

This best-selling cookbook features a delicious collection of recipes from every strata of classical civilization, all accessible to the contemporary cook. Featuring step-by-step instructions, the modern cook will be able to tackle everything from simple meals and street food through to lavish banquets and wedding feasts with an authentic Ancient Greek and Roman flair.

Geoponika is one of the most celebrated texts to come out of the Byzantine renaissance promoted by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus.

Scholarly yet immensely readable, and with comprehensive illustration, Siren Feasts is the first serious social history of Greek food.

The Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936) was one of the stars of the Paris Peace Conference, impressing many of the Western delegates, already possessed of a romantic view of 'the grandeur that was Greece', with his charm and oratorical style.

An evocative survey of the sensory culture of the Roman Empire, showing how the Romans themselves depicted their food, wine and entertainments in literature and in art.

Sensual yet pre-eminently functional, food is of intrinsic interest to us all. This exciting new work by a leading authority explores food and related concepts in the Greek and Roman worlds.

Southeast Asia needs to be dealt with as a whole, because, although the one national delegation from the region (Siam) took a minor part, nationalist movements in several Southeast Asian countries reached an early climax significant though inconclusive in the years 1919-1920. This book focuses on developments around 1919.