With 100 colour photographs by the author and from historical sources, and 150 recipes for traditional gingerbreads, biscuits, cakes and savoury dishes, this is a unique book.

Sam Bilton is a food historian, who runs the Repast Supper Club, food events with a historical theme. She is also a food and drink writer, with articles appearing in magazines and online, with English Heritage, and she works on historical recipes, recreating them for the modern day, including an eighteenth-century recipe for a Bride Cake. Sam is a member of the Guild of Food Writers Committee, and on several panels.