This is a biography of the "English breakfast", a culinary detective story and a cookbook rolled into one. It tells the often-surprising tale of the English breakfast and presents authentic facsimile Victorian and Edwardian recipes and menus for forgotten breakfast and sideboard delights from the heyday of this best of all meals, by four celebrated culinary figures of the period - Georgiana Hill who catered for the grandest houses, the pukka colonial Colonel Kenney-Herbert, the galloping 'Major L' who rode to hounds and ran with the hunting set, and the bright and bustling Miss M L Allen, a paragon among housekeepers. Including six hundred and fifty recipes along with menu plans and instructions for breakfast table settings, this is a cracking good culinary read. Experienced cooks can use the recipes with little difficulty, inexperienced cooks can begin with the simpler recipes of which there are many, and those interested in social and culinary history can use the cookbooks as texts.