When I think of my sister the image is always of her on a Sunday after church. I would pass a few words with the Gaffer, hand out a few alms. She would stride back across the estate in her wellies, bellowing “String ‘em up, Bertie!” Not a glimmer of irony. Completely bonkers and hugely entertaining. Dickson Wright reminds me of my sister. This is a big book and a big subject, both overshadowed by a personality so massive it has developed its own evert horizon. She claims in chapter one that homelessness in Britain today is caused by the Reformation. And she’s only getting started. She may not be entirely trustworthy, but she does get the chronology right with the older things happening first and more recent things happening later. She opens her history in the 1150s. A very sensible choice if you ask me as the history of English food prior to this can be demonstrated in the following graph:

1065 – beer and red meat
1067 – beer and frumenty

One thing she she really does know about is food. She knows a lot and knows how to write about it in a consistently interesting way. Particularly useful is her personal experience. When she discusses the eating of badger, or seal, or udder, she can tell you what they taste like. ( )