CALORIES AND CORSETS: A History of Dieting over 2,000 Years - Brossura

FOXCROFT, LOUISE

Brossura

ISBN 10: 1846684269 ISBN 13: 9781846684265

Casa editrice: Profile Books, 2013

Riassunto

"At last, a book on dieting that is sensible, and better still, entertaining."—The Independent

Today we are urged from all sides to slim down and shape up, to shed a few pounds or lose life-threatening inches. The media's relentless obsession with size may be perceived as a twenty-first-century phenomenon, but as award-winning historian Louise Foxcroft shows, we have been struggling with what to eat, when, and how much ever since the Greeks and the Romans first pinched an inch.

Meticulously researched, surprising, and sometimes shocking, Calories and Corsets tells the epic story of our complicated relationship with food, the fashions and fads of body shape, and how cultural beliefs and social norms have changed over time. Combining research from medical journals, letters, articles, and the dieting bestsellers we continue to devour (including one by an octogenarian Italian in the sixteenth century), Foxcroft reveals the extreme and often absurd lengths people will go to in order to achieve the perfect body, from eating carbolic soap to chewing every morsel hundreds of times to a tasteless pulp.

This unique and witty history exposes the myths and anxieties that drive today's multi-billion dollar dieting industry—and offers a welcome perspective on how we can be healthy and happy in our bodies.

Louise Foxcroft has a PhD in the history of medicine from the University of Cambridge. Her book Hot Flushes, Cold Science was the winner of the 2009 Longman-History Today Prize.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

"'A compelling history of mankind's peculiar and often perverse relationship with dieting... like a grown-up version of Horrible Histories... her style is pacy and she has a wonderfully light touch' (The Times) 'Immensely readable and very enjoyable, brilliantly researched and filled with fascinating, often hilarious facts' (Arabella Weir) 'This witty history of dieting is full of interesting facts... a great reminder that the basic principles of weight loss never change' (Elle) 'Elegantly written and full of tasty morsels' 34; --(Mail on Sunday)

'Brilliantly researched and highly entertaining.' --Daily Mail

Descrizione del libro:

An enlightening and entertaining social history of how we have tried (and failed) to battle the bulge over two millennia.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Profile Books
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1846684269
• ISBN 13: 9781846684265
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 240