Attention amateur historians! Announcing the Next Meeting of the History Book Club The next meeting of the Friends of Bookshare History Book Club will be held on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at: 6:00 P.M PDT, 7:00 P.M. MDT, 8:00 P.M. CDT, 9:00 P.M. EDT, and 1:00 A.M. UTC. Starting with this next meeting in April, the History Book Club will meet on the second Sunday of the month at the times listed above. We will be discussing the book, "Near a thousand tables: A history of food, by Felipe Fernandez-Arnesto, The Free Press, 2002. Synopsis: In Near a Thousand Tables, acclaimed food historian Felipe FernandezArmesto tells the fascinating story of food as cultural as well as culinary history a window on the history of mankind. In this "appetizingly provocative book, he guides readers through the eight great revolutions in the world history of food: the origins of cooking, which set humankind on a course apart from other species; the ritualization of eating, which brought magic and meaning into people's relationship with what they ate; the inception of herding and the invention of agriculture, perhaps the two greatest revolutions of all; the rise of inequality, which led to the development of haute cuisine; the long-range trade in food which, practically alone, broke down cultural barriers; the ecological exchanges, which revolutionized the global distribution of plants and livestock; and, finally, the industrialization and globalization of mass-produced food. From prehistoric snail "herding" to Roman banquets to Big Macs to genetically modified tomatoes, Near a Thousand Tables is a full-course meal of extraordinary narrative, brilliant insight, and fascinating explorations that will satisfy the hungriest of readers. *** This book is available on Bookshare.org. The History Book Club welcomes all those interested in reading history that is nothing like you remember from high school... I promise! I look forward to seeing you all there, even if you weren't able to finish the book. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Brian Miller, the book club facilitator, at: brian-r-miller@xxxxxxxxxx We meet in the Friends Community Room, an online chat room which can be reached directly at: http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e or, you can reach it via The Friends of Bookshare URL at: http://www.friendsofbookshare.org We use the Talkcom Web Conferencing software. If you are not familiar with it, you will need to download the small plug-in on the web page, run it, then return to the web page and sign in. Please type your name in the USerID field. You do not need a password. Cogito ergo sum! To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.