Maggie Black – författare

Drawing on the cuisine of the Middle Ages, from the fall of the Roman Empire to Henry VIII's break with Rome, this new treatment of a classic book explores the relationship between food, religion and the ever-widening gap between the tables of the rich and the poor. Featured is an appetizing collection of recipes inspired by medieval manuscripts, richly illustrated throughout with stunning scenes of food, feasting and cooking from paintings, tapestries and drawings. The Medieval Cookbook has been thoughtfully adapted for the modern kitchen, whilst retaining the true essence of dining in medieval Britain.

Niel Black, a Scot from Argyllshire, arrived in Melbourne in September intending to make his fortune. Ambitious and determined, Black became one of the most successful and energetic squatters in the Western District of Victoria – a livestock breeder and a Member of the Legislative Council. He was also a correspondent extraordinaire, and his letters to family, fellow pastoralists, colonial officials, and his chief UK business partner, Thomas Steuart Gladstone (and first cousin of the British prime minister), offer a unique insight into the time. Black’s letters and journals, now held at the State Library Victoria, are the inspiration for this revelatory book written by his great-granddaughter.Battles with local Aboriginal people, other settlers, Commissioners of Crown Lands and bush-fires, along with droughts, family feuds, multiple trips back to Scotland to find a wife and Black’s rise to gentrified excess are all vividly brought to life.

Except in schoolboy jokes, the subject of human waste is rarely aired. We talk aboutwater-related diseases when most are sanitation-related - in short, we don‘t mention the shit.A century and a half ago, a long, hot summer reduced the Thames flowing past the UK Houses of Parliament to aGreat Stink thereby inducing MPs to legislate sanitary reform. Today, another sanitary reformation is needed, one that manages to spread cheaper and simpler systems to people everywhere.In the byways of the developing world, much is quietly happening on the excretory frontier. In 2008, the International Year of Sanitation, the authors bring this awkward subject to a wider audience than the world of international filth usually commands. They seek the elimination of theGreat Distaste so that people without political clout or economic muscle can claim their right to a dignified and hygienic place togo.Published with UNICEF

Except in schoolboy jokes, the subject of human waste is rarely aired. We talk aboutwater-related diseases when most are sanitation-related - in short, we don‘t mention the shit.A century and a half ago, a long, hot summer reduced the Thames flowing past the UK Houses of Parliament to aGreat Stink thereby inducing MPs to legislate sanitary reform. Today, another sanitary reformation is needed, one that manages to spread cheaper and simpler systems to people everywhere.In the byways of the developing world, much is quietly happening on the excretory frontier. In 2008, the International Year of Sanitation, the authors bring this awkward subject to a wider audience than the world of international filth usually commands. They seek the elimination of theGreat Distaste so that people without political clout or economic muscle can claim their right to a dignified and hygienic place togo.Published with UNICEF