"Some of the most consequential decisions in history were decided at the dinner table, accompanied--and perhaps influenced--by copious amounts of food and drink. This fascinating book explores ten of those pivotal meals, presenting the contexts, key participants, table talk, and outcomes of each. It offers unique insight into the minds and appetites of some of history's most famous and notorious characters, including Bonnie Prince Charlie, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Richard Nixon. Includes recipes."-- Provided by publisher.

Originally published in the United Kingdom by Birlinn Ltd.

Bonnie Prince Charlie on the eve of Culloden -- Sowing the seeds of the American Revolution -- How Washington, DC, became America's capital -- Forging a hundred years of peace at the Congress of Vienna -- Archduke Franz Ferdinand's dinner in Sarajevo -- How petroleum politics was born over a Scottish banquet -- Austrian Anschluss -- Churchill's birthday banquet in Tehran -- Nixon in China -- The Egypt-Israel peace treaty dinner.