The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets is the definitive guide to one of the world’s greatest pleasures: sweetness. Edited by Darra Goldstein and featuring contributions from 265 experts including historians, chemists, neuroscientists and pastry chefs, this extensive volume explores sugar not only as a food ingredient but as a cultural, historical and scientific phenomenon.
Across nearly 600 entries, the book traces sugar’s journey from a rare luxury to an everyday commodity, covering everything from ancient sweeteners to modern confections. Readers will discover how chocolate evolved from a bitter drink into a familiar bar, why sweets play such an important role in children’s literature, and how our brains respond to sweetness. It also examines the darker side of sugar, including its links to colonialism, slavery and questions of health. With 888 pages of rich content, this hardback edition is both a reference work and a celebration of the enduring human fascination with sugar and sweets.
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