Other than that it tastes delicious with butter, what do you know about the knobbily-armoured, scarlet creature staring back at you from your fancy dinner plate? Food writer Elisabeth Townsend herecharts the global rise of the lobster as delicacy.

Part of the EdibleSeries, Lobster: A Global History explores the use and consumption of the lobster from poor man s staple to cultural icon. From coastal fishing in the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution and modern times, Townsend describes the social history of the consumption of lobsters around the world. As well, the book...