Review of The Secret History of Food - Audiobook

I listened to this book over five or so hours across yesterday and today, quick review.

What I really liked about the book was its courage in dealing with widely unrelated topics, the breadth and depth of research the author had gone into, his chill attitude, and his 'holistic' approach to the history of several of the important items in our pantries.

What I didn't like was his...I don't know how to describe it...cynicism...that came through even in the voice of the professional voice artist, regarding several issues he was talking about. He wants to be an academic, but can't keep his dripping sneering cynicism about the world and dare I say 'capitalism' to himself, despite him being unable to make the connection to the core content clearly. And the things he has issues with are strange...he complains about 'forced labor of bees'... but never once of forced 'death' of all feed animals, or even the negative health effects of sugar, despite talking about potential downsides of Vitamin B supplements somehow. How he didn't think to mention the downsides of overeating, sugar and all of that, while moaning about some very specific things I don't know.

A decent book, that feels slightly incomplete, and a bit strangely framed. If the author had let in his academic side more strongly through than his activist side, the book would have been so much better.