Explains the theory of breadmaking as well as providing recipes. Armed with this knowledge, it becomes more possible to adapt a recipe from an original manuscript. It provides recipes with various flours.

The folks who are largely responsible for the resurgence of good bread in the US (Peter Reinhart, Daniel Leader, even Bernard Clayton) all acknowledge their debt to Elizabeth David in general and this book in particular. With good reason. This book was Elizabeth David's Frankenstein. It isn't my favorite of her books, but I think that it's her best. Certainly it was the book she worked the hardest on - and when we're talking about Elizabeth David, that's saying something. ( )