What a delight to find this amazing classic back in print, in a reprint
edition with new comments by the authors. This will spare thousands
of food enthusiasts the perennial burden of scouring the used-book
market for copies of it. (I ordered several copies of the reprint at once
for gifts and to have on hand.) People who were following food
writing at the time will recall the stir created by the Hesses' book when
it first appeared in the late 1970s. The book is iconoclastic, even

subversive, in the same sense as Prometheus's gift of fire to mankind.

In this case the gift is not fire but perspective, or a sense of history.
Co-author John Hess was himself a senior and very experienced
food writer and editor, but he has a scholar's dislike of pretentious
misinformation being quoted around until it becomes conventional
wisdom. Karen Hess is a food historian noted elsewhere for her
work on the mysterious "Martha Washington" cookbook.
Their book addresses questions like: How did things like iceberg
lettuce and phony "gourmet" products displace centuries of fine
immigrant and indigenous cooking wisdom in the US? Who helped
to "sell" such changes, only to be celebrated later (Orwellian-style)
for contributions to US cooking? Moreover, it is remarkable to see
how many "innovations" in US cooking since about the time this book
was written consist actually of rediscovery of principles widely known
100 or 200 years ago, as the book documents in detail.

The casual reader should be forgiven for not having heard of all
of this in the general media. Journalism in the US about food (and not
only about food) is lately graced with legions of people blissfully
and confidently unconscious of anything that preceded their own words.
Such people will gush uncritically about food pundits like Craig
Claiborne (distinguished on the basis that the gushing writers
have heard of them) without any real research or perspective.

These writers would not do so if they read the Hesses' book.

From the Hesses', and other, evidence it seems that around the
1950s, "gourmet" became a convenience-food-industry euphemism for
"sucker" in the US. "That flabby midget called Cornish game hen was,
next to chocolate-covered ants, the gourmet racket's funniest joke on a
gullible public. It has no more taste of game than a wad of cotton," say
the Hesses. Such game hens are one of several gimmicks Craig
Claiborne is quoted pushing; canned beef gravy and instant whipped
potatoes are others. Claiborne receives especial attention here,
though James Beard, the Rombauers, Fannie Farmer, even JC Herself,
are not spared. Yet this criticism is constructive, at least for the reader,
with positive counterexamples.

It is an angry, or perhaps indignant, book but an informed one,
meticulous in its documentation of sources. The bibliography by itself is
valuable, sort of an annotated miniature of Katherine Bitting's epic 1939
"Gastronomic Bibliography" (also cited; that book is very expensive
on the used market; I know because I own one; even its 1980s reprint is
expensive and I am told, unlike the original, is printed on acid paper).

After reading this book for the first time in the early 1980s, it changed the way I thought about both choosing what to feast upon and how to prepare it. I always wondered why I hated vegetables as a child. Having read the book, I realized that my mother--loving though she may have been--had cooked vegetables to death by boiling everything until it was soft, tasteless and unappetizing. When I began learning to cook for myself, the beauty of this text came through for me. Now I appreciate vegetables because I prepare them simply and let the flavor come through. I recommend this book to anyone who is a "picky" eater (and even to those who are not). Once you know why you don't like a variety of foods, you may discover that it's not the food you learned detest, but the way Mama cooked it for you!

An impassioned, lively, fascinating look at the American table. The Hess' are knowledgeable, erudite and highly opinionated. Many disagree with their negative view of American eating habits, but it is hard to argue with them on the facts. Read it and think!

I'm a librarian in Montana and I was excited to discover this story on my girlfriend's endtable. The story of Butch and the rooster not only shows the rural life but it also teaches a lesson that can be discussed with the young reader. The children will identify with characters from their own life experiences. The colorful illustrations remind me of many real life country homes in our area. I'm ordering a copy for the library and one for my grandaughter today.

This text provides both an excellent overview and an indepth analysis of the state of prisons in the United States. The graphics and tables are simply outstanding and are excellent teaching tools!

This book is a jewel. Being a 16th-17th century reenactor, I would not have thought that Martha Washington's cookbook would have become such a favorite of mine. The annotations by Karen Hess make it invaluable to anyone interested in historical cookery from the Elizabethan age onwards, and it is a darned good read, informative and fun even if you aren't. This is the book I will give someone who thinks they might possibly be vaguely interested in historical cookery and would like to learn more. It is very well-researched and there is something to learn on every page. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The information contained in this book helped me to see most of my employees through the anxiety and emotions related to our 4 rounds of lay-offs, building relocation, several successive changes in management and re-engineering of our department. The author presents practical information and realistic strategies that will assist management at all levels. I would recommend this to any supervisor or manager that would like to prepare employees for corporate change, both positive and negative.

This book helped me to support and reassure many of my employees, which resulted in lower rates of turn-over and higher productivity during stressful times of change and uncertainty.

Seeing the obvious "people breakage" of past changes, the President of the company bought the book for the senior staff to read and discuss so we'll be more skilled in change management.

The model is simple and yet powerful. I found myself doing a self-examination and applying it at home with my children. It will take some time to master the techniques and I'm optimistic it will greatly assist us with future corporate changes.

It's my intention to put together a training program for the entire company as it will help everyone better face business and personal change.

If you're thinking of buying, Make sure you get the 6th Edition hard cover text that goes with it. I was badly fooled after looking at several books with the same title.

I read this book as part of a university level criminal investigations class for criminal justice professionals, the book being the personal choice of my professor whom himself had over 25 years federal and local law enforcement experience as an investigator. The book read absolutely seemlessly. Chapters were brimming with topical, relevant facts. And the chapters went into sufficient detail for the book to serve as either a solid basis for the criminal justice novice or as a reference for the more advanced professional who may not have the on-the-job exposure to all aspects of criminal investigation. While covering strictly forensic topics it did not cross the line from providing information relevant to an on-scene investigator to that which would only be relevant to a forensic technician, always keeping the material and topics relevant to patrol and investigative law enforcement officers, not forensic technicians. This is not a forensics textbook. This is an investigations handbook. Total hands on. Makes you think. Aids in planning. If anything, the book was brimming from cover to cover to the point that it could very well have gone on in volume after volume. A good starting point.

A High Performance Team. We all want one or want to be a part of one. This book tells you how to develop one. It begins by developing a Mission Statement and Vision Statement, discusses how to communicate the goals and objectives, and then discusses techniques for achieving the necessary buy-in from the team.

I am a mid-level manager. I recently joined a young telecom company and set about interviewing and hiring staff and coalescing them into a Team. This book helped refresh the process of developing and communicating "management vision."

For a mature manager - a dozen years experience of managing 12 to 40 people - this is a good refresher. For a younger manager recently promoted or just getting started, this is a must.

This book should be coupled with Winning Management by Wolf J. Rinke.

I read this book from front to back and found it a very good read. No doubt I will get even more out of it when I look at it again. The authors propose a holistic approach to the creation, development and nuture of high performance teams through participatory management. I was so impressed by their argument I have commended the book to my colleagues as a model we might follow in our soon to be started business.

WARNING - YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE USE THE PAPERBACK EDITION AT THE PE EXAM!

For a number of years, this book has been used as one textbook for the PE License review course offerred in Minnesota. The auther formerly taught this course in MN.

The title of this book was NOT included on the list of prohibited books for use during the PE exam. Yet at a recent exam session in Minnesota the proctor confiscated my paperback copy, along with at least one other copy. Classmates who broght the hard cover edition to the exam did not have their books taken.

I believe the problem is that the front cover of the paperback edition proclaims boldly that the book includes over 100 solved problems for the PE exam!

So buy the hard cover edition - not the paperback - if you intend to take this book to the exam session with you!

I am a control/electronics engineer. I took the PE exam and failed it the first time. My problem was that I did not understand electrical power (generation, distribution, power factor correction, etc.). The electrical PE exam is dominated by these types of problems. Digital Logic and electronics only represent a few of the problems on the exam, and understanding those types of problems alone will not allow you pass it. Bentley's book does an excellent job explaining power. I scored 67 the first time I took the exam. After working with this book for two days, I took the exam again and scored much higher (94 I think it was).

Karen Hess does a great job of introducing you to the person that was Mary Randolph. She helps us understand the background of cooking and cookbooks in America. For those who are interested in how cooking was handled in the earlydays of the states, or for those cooks who are always looking to try something different - this book has a lot to offer.

The author, Mary Randolph, was a member of the aristocratic Virginian Randolph family, and was reputed to be the best cook in Richmond, Virginia in the early 19th century. This book is regarded by most culinary historians as the first true cookbook of the American South. Randolph provides an introduction to food and customs of old Virginia and includes recipes and serving instructions for a wide range of soups, beef, veal, lamb, mutton, pork, fish, poultry, sauces, vegetables, puddings, creams, preserves, cordials, plus pickling techniques and the making of soaps, cleansers, and perfumes. As such, the book is not only an excellent cookbook, but also an excellent almanac and reference for historians and writers of fiction concered with the ante-bellum South. The recipes herein can easily be translated into today's methods of preparation, with the use of healthy ingredients. As a native Richmonder, this book was a staple in our home when I was growing up, and I can attest to the tastiness of many of the recipes herein.

Not a book for fun reading, but it has a lot of useful information for current officers or people who are training to become police officers.