Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World – A Natural History of Cattle from Ancient Worship to Modern Food

Andrew Rimas and Evan D.G. Fraser have joined together to tell the remarkable story of the noble cow in Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World. In the bestselling tradition of Cod and Salt comes a lively history of our ongoing relationship with an animal that we have worked alongside, consumed, and even worshipped for thousands of years. The history of the cow is both surprising and fascinating, and Beef offers a unique overview of cattle yesterday, today, and tomorrow—from adoration to breeding to braising; from ancient Mediterranean bullfight rings to African villages to American stockyards—complete with amazing facts and trivia, wonderful recipes, and an important warning for the future of beef production.

Andrew Rimas is a journalist and the managing editor of the Improper Bostonian Magazine. He has worked as an associate editor for Boston Magazine and his writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, Boston Globe Magazine, and the Ottawa Citizen, among other publications. He lives in Boston.

Evan D. G. Fraser earned his doctorate from the University of British Columbia and currently teaches at the School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, UK, where he also does research on farming and the environment. He has published numerous scholarly research articles and written several policy briefs on issues such as sustainable agriculture, climate change, and "the food system." Dr. Fraser lives in the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England.