The King’s Dinner: Family, Nation, and Identity on the British table, 1760–1820

Expanding previous notions of the monarchy and Britishness, this volume examines British identity in the late eighteenth century through the lens of the kitchen. 

Drawing on a large dataset of two royal household kitchen ledgers, this book studies the role and influence of food in understanding British identity in the late eighteenth century. Analyzing trade routes, migration, agricultural changes, recipes, and flavors, it argues that Britishness was more complex and multicultural than previously recognized. By situating national identity at the dinner table, the authors show how Britishness was an embodied identity that combined regional, national, and global elements. Combining digital humanities and data science approaches with social and cultural history, The King's Dinner also proposes a new way of understanding the monarchy's position within rather than above the cultural habitus of their subjects.