Book: Chef at War by Alexis Soyer

The Chef at War is part of the Penguin Classics "Great Food" collection, which supposedly brings together some of the best writings on all matters prandial.

The Chef at War does not belong in this collection. The author changed the lives of soldiers on the battlefield with his ingeniously designed stove, but he should have stuck to cooking and teaching, and left the writing of his experiences to someone else. Soyer's writing is all dull as dishwater, so much so that I eventually resorted to skim reading the book even though it's only 100 pages in length! To read of this man's great influence makes it all the worse.

The best thing about The Chef at War is the cover. Read the Wikipedia entry and be done with it.

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