Crunch

A cultural history of the nation's favourite snack

'It's a triumph.'
Nigella Lawson, Stocking Fillers 2024 list

'This book is full of tasty morsels . . . A great present for the snacky gourmand.'
Pandora Sykes

'An absolute tour de force . . . I devoured it until the very last crumb and then licked the packet.'
Felicity Cloake

We are a nation of crisp obsessives. Squashed into sandwiches on our lunch breaks and torn-open as centrepieces on pub tables, we buy tens of millions of packets every single day. But how did the humble potato snack become a national dish?

CRUNCH: AN ODE TO CRISPS is journalist Natalie Whittle's love letter to the salty siren. She traces their evolution from the simplicity of salt sachets in the early 20th century, to 80s childhood favourites such as Hula Hoops, to the popularity of 'hand-cooked' gourmet flavours today.

Along the way, Natalie will get to the heart of her own lifelong passion for crisps - exploring why they are bound up in ideas of childhood, nostalgia and comfort. Featuring crisp collectors, potato growers, flavour wizards and more, CRUNCH is a moreish read spanning 150 years of crisp history.