Simple, healthy and comforting, breakfast cereals are a perennially popular way to start the day around the world. They have a long, distinguished and surprising history - around 10,000 years ago, with the advent of agriculture, people began breaking their fast with porridges made from wheat, rice, corn and other grains. It was only in the second half of the nineteenth century, however, in the United States, that a series of entrepreneurs and food reformers created the breakfast cereals we recognise today: Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Cheerios and Quaker Oats, among others.

In this global, entertaining and well-illustrated account, Kathryn Cornell Dolan explores the history of breakfast cereals, including many historical and modern recipes that the reader can try at home.

'An entertaining journey from the earliest accounts of pottages and porridges to the contemporary craze for breakfast bars, this is a must read.' Etta M. Madden, Missouri State University