Six Thousand Years of Bread: Its Holy and Unholy History [Paperback]

H. E. Jacob (Author), Lynn Alley (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1997 | Series: Cooks Classic Library

Yeast, water, flour, and heat. How could this simple mixture have been the cause of war and plague, celebration and victory, supernatural vision and more? In this remarkable and all-encompassing volume, H. E. Jacob takes us through six thousand dynamic years of bread's role in politics, religion, technology, and beyond. Who were the first bakers? Why were bakers distrusted during the Middle ages? How did bread cause Napoleon's defeat? Why were people buried with bread? Six Thousand Years of Bread has the answers. Jacob follows the story from its beginning in ancient Egypt and continues through to modern times. The poignant and inspiring conclusion of the book relays the author's experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, subsisting on bread made of sawdust. (6 X 9, 416 pages, illustrations)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bread's history has frequently been a recipe for disaster. The well-baked loaf--aside from being the main event in one of the major food groups--has caused wars, supernatural visions, festivals, and plagues. H. E. Jacob's celebratory book toasts bread from its earliest beginnings in Egypt, where it was one of the treasures entombed with the dead, to the author's own experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, where a bread made of sawdust kept him alive. The maker of paupers and kings, our daily bread and its evolutions are deliciously described in this illuminating text.

Review

Bread's history has frequently been a recipe for disaster. The well-baked loaf--aside from being the main event in one of the major food groups--has caused wars, supernatural visions, festivals, and plagues. H. E. Jacob's celebratory book toasts bread from its earliest beginnings in Egypt, where it was one of the treasures entombed with the dead, to the author's own experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, where a bread made of sawdust kept him alive. The maker of paupers and kings, our daily bread and its evolutions are deliciously described in this illuminating text. (Amazon.com Review ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st,Revised edition (July 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558215751
• ISBN-13: 978-1558215757
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,197,438 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Multi-faceted book-wow, February 22, 2005

By 

J. EE "all sorrows are less with bread" (Mid-USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 6000 Years of Bread (Hardcover)

As a bread baker, I read this book anticipating information on bread through history. Who would have ever known that bread was so important. What a bonus it was learning about agriculture, religion, politics, literature , etc. and their connection to bread. It was facinating how the author found so many connections to bread, which was obviously more important in history than it is today-(referring to low-carb craze). The first 90 pages are a "tough-read", but it gets easier. I have purchased 6 more copies and am distributing them to friends. A very valuable book in my estimation. The deceased author (book published in 1944 and translated from German for the current edition)would have been quite surprised to see what has happened since 1944. If writing more chapters after 1944, he would certainly need a chapter on "chemical bread"-bread on the grocer's shelf that has a 30 day shelf life due to addition of anti-molding agents (sounds healthy doesn't it) requested by the grocery chains. It smells awful. Anyone that loves history, religion or agriculture would certainly find this book enlightening.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating way to view the history of the western world, September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Six Thousand Years of Bread: Its Holy and Unholy History (Paperback)

I bumped into Jacobs' book by accident while browsing the shelves in a library; what a joy to see it's been reissued! (The edition I found was dated 1943.) I have learned so much interesting history from this book; the Temple of Eleusis and its similarities to the life of Christ; the invention of the windmill; why the village hated the miller and Chaucer's Miller's Tale; on and on, there are fascinating things in each new thread he picks up.

34 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most uniquely philosophical books i've ever read, April 4, 2000

By 

shuvalkin - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Six Thousand Years of Bread: Its Holy and Unholy History (Paperback)

Jacob's Six Thousand Years of Bread is an amazing presentation of the relationship between bread and the history of Western Civilization. Even if it were just about bread's history, it would be an amazing book given its scope and knowledge. But it isn't REALLY about bread. It uses bread as an access point for discussing transformations of values and paradigms of knowledge through history. In a word, Jacobs presents a philosophical "genealogy" of Western Civilization through a discussion of the role of bread.

Thus, Jacob's is a unique philosophical work. I can't think of any other book in philosophy or history that makes such a clear presentation of the causes and forces of historical transformation. In fact, the term "genealogy" I have used above has a specific sense that is relevant here. Coined by Nietzsche, "genealogy" is a strategy employed for a philosophical discussion of historical transformations of the sort Jacob discusses. But whether comparing Jacob to Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, Heidegger, or even Hegel and Kant, I can't think of a better example of a philosophical discussion of historical transformations of values and knowledge. As a bonus, the Jacob's method of using a history of bread to present this genealogy makes it far more approachable than most philosophical discussions. I can't recommend a book more highly. I might even use it as a recommended reading for students in my philosophy classes.