Description
About the Author
Brenda Assael was educated at Barnard College of Columbia University and the University of Toronto. She is the author of The Circus and Victorian Society (2005), and has published widely on the intersections between culture, society, commerce, and politics in nineteenth-century Britain.
Reviews
A welcome addition to the literature on eating out in England. The London Restaurant, 1840-1914 fills a gap in our knowledge of an important socio-cultural institution of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and its many-faceted influence on the modern urban experience ... Assael's extraordinary research paints a picture of the restaurant as a complex business, as well as "a site for mapping both social identities and cultural exchange" (211). * Christel Lane, American Historical Review *
[The book is] a painstaking exploration of all aspects of the business. She [Assael] demonstrates the wide range of eating establishments throughout the period, the commercial issues involved in running them, the lives of the waiting staff, health and safety concerns, and what she terms "gastro-cosmopolitanism", referring to the increasingly diverse cuisines available. ... Records of all but the grandest restaurants are, Assael admits, next to non-existent, but she works hard to find evidence in such ephemera as menus and advertisements. * Jane Darcy, Times Literary Supplement *
It is an excellent book that I cannot recommend highly enough. * Rebecca Earle, University of Warwick, Victorian Studies *
One of the most important and innovative aspects of this book lies in its discussion of the role of women ... Assael's narrative places women at the centre of the Victorian restaurant. Assael has produced a key book on dining out in London, which covers a variety of themes. She argues that the Victorian period was the turning-point in the development of this central establishment in modern urban life, reflecting population increase, the growth of leisure time and globalisation. Many of the themes which she tackles remain pertinent today, whether hygiene and health, the pay of waiters, the restaurant as a symbol of cosmopolitanism, or the precariousness of the restaurant business itself. * Panikos Panayi, English Historical Review *
The London Restaurant provides a refreshingly comprehensive portrait ... Assael's well-documented history provides a vital corrective to the overemphasis on cultural experiences that has characterized much restaurant history, reminding us that liberal economic and commercial institutions such as the restaurant often provided desirable work, entrepreneurial opportunity, and -- through health regulations and the marketplace's longing for diverse experiences -- a better dinner for many consumers. * Andrew P. Haley, Journal of Modern History *
full of rich and original research * Bee Wilson, London Review of Books *
Book Information
ISBN 9780192874993
Author Brenda Assael
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 320g
Dimensions(mm) 215mm * 136mm * 15mm