Abstract
Rooted in a meticulous study of the faunal remains excavated at an Annapolis, Maryland, house, Mark S. Warner’s book addresses sweeping questions about race, resistance, and identity. Between roughly 1858 and 1990, the house was owned and inhabited by two African American families. As Warner explains, his intention in reconstructing their diet is ultimately to “explore how these families’ daily food choices within a newly emergent mass consumer society served as a relatively safe way to express a unique outlook and history, as well as offer a subtle, yet persistent, commentary on the racist stereotypes and violence that surrounded them” (p. 2).