Although their ideas were sometimes very different from ours, the Tudors had quite explicit ideas on the effects of various foods on the body and on the health-giving properties of certain ingredients. These ideas were explored in the many dietary manuals published at the time, which Alison Sim has used in her research for the book. Etiquette, too, was treated with great seriousness in this period, and those who wished to impress a potential patron or benefactor were keen to show off their good manners. What emerges from this evidence is a more balanced and certainly more attractive picture of Tudor dining and feasting. This is the first general overview of Tudor dining, and makes the case for regarding Tudor food and feast as different from its medieval counterpart. It brings alive the royal courts and great houses of the period, but considers also the lives of the poor, whose diet was so crucially dependent on the seasons. All those interested in daily life in Tudor times and in the way that food and eating have changed over the centuries will enjoy this book.