Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California
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In this ground breaking study of organic farming, Julie Guthman challenges accepted wisdom about...
Cooking People: The Writers Who Taught the English How to Eat
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With modern cookery books always at the top of the bestseller lists, Sophia Waugh looks at the...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2400 KP) rated A Murder Most Fowl in Books
Sep 10, 2025
I was looking forward to this debut since it sounded fun. And the book started out well, with me laughing and the set up moving along well. But as the book kept going, I found events took the place of actual investigation. Many of the suspects were thin, and the main characters started to wear on me with their antics. The book wasn’t all bad, but it needed a little more time to become more polished. Hopefully, a second book will be better.
A Guide to Britain and Ireland
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Britain and Ireland form a group of small but fascinating countries, teeming with ancient history,...
The Cottage Garden
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Hollyhocks and cabbages, roses and runner beans: the English cottage garden combined beauty and...
Figs: A Global History
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Figs, fresh and dried, have become the fruit of celebrations and festivities throughout the Western...
Al Dente: Madness, Beauty and the Food of Rome
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Imagine the River Tiber as an alimentary tract. Picture a hungry saint. Think of erotic Renaissance...
ClareR (5955 KP) rated The Women at Hitler’s Table in Books
Dec 3, 2019
Rosa Sauer moves from Berlin to live with her husbands parents in the countryside, to escape the bombs that killed her parents. However, in doing so she draws attention to herself and ends up being ‘enlisted’ by the SS as one of the female food tasters at the Wolfschanze (Wolfs Lair). In some ways this is a privileged position - food is scarce and people are starving. Rosa and her fellow food tasters are guaranteed regular food, but each meal could be their last. They have no choice but to eat: SS guards watch their every mouthful. Some of the women are Hitler loyalists and see it as an honour to do this, whilst others (Rosa included) aren’t as keen. Rosa is beginning to see the cracks in the regime, and in fact has disagreed with the party’s politics for a long time. But she has chosen not to do or say anything - as many people did.
This book looks at what life was like for the ordinary Germans. Their loves, loyalties, secrets and the fear for both their present circumstances and their futures. This isn’t a comfortable read. It looks at some very unsettling subjects, and the fear of the women is palpable. I think the story would have stood up well without the romance element, but I’m sure some would disagree with me and would enjoy that aspect more.
I really liked the links with real historical figures: Claus Von Stauffenberg, some local nobility and a real food taster that the story was based on (Margot Wölk). I also liked the style in which this was written. It was dark, subdued, much like how I imagine the country felt as a whole at this point. I really did enjoy this book - it was an interesting and new angle to look at a period in history which we all feel that we know a lot about. Just when you thought you’d seen it all, Hitler’s female food tasters make their appearance....
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for my copy of this book to read and review.
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The Patenting of Life, Limiting Liberty, and the Corporate Pursuit of Seeds
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Throughout world history, what human beings ate was determined by what local producers cultivated,...