Prospect Books' best seller is this handy instruction manual for the
breadmaker and DIY enthusiast showing how to build a bread oven in the
yard or garden. Together with detailed plans (which do not omit a single
block or brick) and a step-by-step specification, the book doubles up as
an essay on English bread baking in previous centuries, with special
reference to the hardware, equipment and working methods. The book was
first published in 1997 and has had an annual printing since then. It
sells at much in America as it does in Britain, although British sales
have definitely increased in the last few years. There are other books
on the subject, but few give as much historical context. The history of
bread is something which is almost entirely ignored in current
literature, greatly to its disadvantage.