WILD FOOD. By Ray Mears and Gordon Hillman.

(2007) 1st edition reprint. 4to (198 x 252mm). Pp352. Colour photographs throughout, decorative end-papers. Pictorial boards.

The authors have travelled the world to see how native people manage to live on just what nature provides. ...In this book and the BBC TV series it inspired, [they travel] back ten thousand years to a time before farming to learn how our ancestors found, prepared and cooked their food". Introductory chapters discuss what is known about food gathering and preparation in the British Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) as well as looking at modern hunter-gatherers in other countries. The rest of the book is devoted to a species-by-species treatment of fish, shellfish, fungi, plants, fruit and animals which can be eaten. This seems to include most things, and a large part of the authors' research addresses ways of preparing otherwise inedible plants, fruit and roots to make them fit for consumption. Co-author Professor Gordon Hillman is one of the foremost experts in this subject, having worked in the field, researched and written since 1959. He is currently Visiting Professor of Archaeobotany (palaeoethnobotany) at University College London's Institute of Archaeology.