There's more attention paid to recipes than to other aspects of food history, so you can make several varieties of gruel, for example, or recreate an 18th-century tradesman's dinner. Nearly every page of text (not recipe) is illustrated.

I was disappointed because I'm more interested in the social and technological aspects of food, but this is a good start for people who are interested in cooking per se. It has a reasonable bibliography but it's not a scholarly book. ( )