This series of practical but beautiful little cookbooks focuses on healthy ingredients or groups of foods. Each gives factual information about the food's history, production, nutritional and medicinal value, and provides at least 30 delicious recipes that use the food as a main ingredient, all tested and chosen for their simplicity of preparation. The potato was first domesticated and cultivated by Peruvian Indians around 3000 BC, although wild roots and tubers were important to our prehistoric ancesters. It cultivation spread rapidly throughout Europe where root vegetbles such as carrots, turnips, radishes and beetroot had been known for centuries. Today potatoes are enjoying a remarkable renaissance. As well as being readily available, cheap and immensely versatile, potatoes are a rich source of fibre, minerals and vitamin C as well as carbohydrate, which are all components of a healthy diet. Root vegetables such as beetroot and carrot possess powerful substances that prevent and may also combat cancers in a variety of ways. Many traditional remedies have made extensive use of root vegetables. The Goodness of Potatoes and Root Vegetables is full of information. 30 recipes from different culture, from Polish to Italian are each accompanied by an attractive new watercolour. It is the perfect companion to good eating and good health.