Interesting, but a bit pedantic at times. Wasn't really drawn into either the history of bread and the author's quest to find it out, or his pursuit to make his own bread from scratch (by growing the wheat - or emmer, was it emmer?). Think this might have been because the writing jumped from his travels to his agricultural pursuits, to history, to cultural references about bread - and it all jumped around, which made it a bit hard to follow and really sit down at any point with what he was trying to say at said point.
Still, it is an interesting take on bread and the part it's played and still plays in our lives all over the world

Like all good quests, this one starts with a simple idea. To make the perfect bread in today's fast paced, fast food, white cardboard bread days. The author on rediscovering artisan bread, sets out to find the perfect ancient grain to grow in the climate. It leads him around the world and to growing his own grain in a borrowed firld.

The book describes the benefits of ancient grains and wild sowing. it steers us away from pestocides and genetically modified crops. It in fact leads us back to the single most improtant fact , food is fuel and the better the fuel , the more lovingly prepared, makes for health improvements.

Thank you Netgalley for a free e-copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Sourdough baking is always my passion, besides making desserts.
I always like to know more about sourdough. I bake sourdough so many times already. But still, this world is new to me. I want to know more about how others do it. And every time I found out something new. This book too. Always something new that I haven't known before. I will try this.

Wonderful! I don't bake bread myself but live with someone who does, and I found it fascinating and very enjoyable. Robert Penn goes through the history and the science of bread; while I knew a bit, I learned so much as well. I had no idea bread was so old and I found the archeological facts and the history just incredible to read about. I do agree with other reviewers commenting that for someone so passionate about traditions, nature and the quality of soil... It is odd that he travels to so many places to research bread, maybe his book would have had just as much value without going to Turkey or Israel himself for example to talk about the origins of bread... But that could not spoil my enjoyment of the book.

This was not what I expected. It's basically a history of bread making.
I found it a bit preachy.
Guess it was informative.

It was interesting to read the experience of making bread from the seed to its final steps of Robert Penn. I never thought of all the process involved.

The author Robert Penn sets out the history of agriculture and bread making. He learns how to use pre-industrial techniques to grow and produce his own family’s bread. This is a book rich in detail, I particularly enjoyed the opening chapters about various breads made and eaten in different countries around the world.

Penn emphasises bread should be made using the best natural ingredients, and argues commercially produced white bread might be the culprit responsible for today’s digestive issues, rather than an issue with gluten. It’s a convincing argument too.

As others have highlighted, there is rather a disconnect between the author’s environmental concerns and the amount of travelling by air and road he does, to seek out wild wheat and meet growers of wheat and producers of flour and bread...

Overall I found the historical and geographical detail much more interesting than the author’s own bread making journey.

This was not what I was expecting it was more of a story on bread but fascinating never the less. It was a very relaxing and informative read.

I learnt a lot.

I was given an advance copy by the publisher and netgalley but the review is entirely my own

Have you every imagined growing wheat yourself and making bread from it? Robert Penn sets out to do just that. That quest takes him on a worldwide journey. He discovers how to scythe ancient wheats in Turkey how to winnow; how in America vast tracts of wheat are harvested and how the quest for white bread has affected our diet.

Closer to home, he decides the types of wheat he'll grow and how challenging it is to prepare it for milling. We meet a couple in Wales who restored an old flour mill and who now specialise in milling heritage wheats. We discover his first steps in making good bread.

I read this book in chunks as there are so many facts to absorb. You can only admire the work that's been put into creating this story. I am sure you'll never think about wheat in the same way again!

The most perfect time for this book to be released - during a pandemic where 70% of the country is off work and currently in a lockdown. During the fast lockdown we had a splurge of banana bread and this time it seems to be loaves of bread.

This book is colourful, full of great hints, tips and tricks and very well researched. As someone who owns a breadmaker but sticks to the typical white or brown loaf, this has given me a new lease in baking and I can not wait to try some out!

I would absolutely love a copy of this for my kitchen shelf which is full of trustworthy recipe books!

Before reading this book, I was very distanced from the topic: I’ve never made bread, there are no artisan bakeries where I live, I rarely see a wheat field and I don’t think I’ve ever touched raw wheat. It was very interesting to learn about the different stages of the bread-making process, from growing, to harvesting, threshing, milling and baking.

A mixture of agricultural history, memoir and food journalism, this is an unusual book which, like the author’s previous book about wood craft, emphasises the benefits of locally sourced, quality, handmade products and the satisfaction of making things yourself. Robert Penn’s goal was to grow and harvest enough heritage wheat to feed his family for a year. With humour and enthusiasm, he shares the highs and lows of his quest. In between the bits of history, science and cultural references, there are amusing snippets of family life in Wales and some fascinating dispatches from further afield, such as Turkey, the USA, Egypt and Israel.

There are some diagrams in the book, but they were not included in my advance copy. At the end is a recipe for wholemeal sourdough bread, which I haven’t tried. I don’t eat a lot of bread – two slices per day – so the prospect of making my own is not that appealing to me. However, I’m sure that anyone who loves ‘real’ bread (as opposed to the very processed white loaves) would be inclined to give the recipe a go.

[Note - this review will be on my blog on 18th February]