Nicola Twilley Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Nicola Twilley is a successful published author.

She is also known for being the co-host of the Gastropod podcast, which has won awards and takes a look at food as viewed through the lens of science and history. It belongs to the Vox Media Podcast Network, which exists in partnership with Eater.

She is the author of the book Until Proven Safe, which was co-authored along with Geoff Manaugh. Nicola is a contributing writer to The New Yorker and is the author of Edible Geography. Today she resides in the city of Los Angeles.

Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine is a 2021 book written by Nicola Twilley and Geoff Manaugh. The book was picked as one of the top books of 2021 thanks to publications and outlets such as NPR, Time Magazine, the Guardian, and the Financial Times.

In this book, the authors go back along the history of quarantine methods and tactics, and also look into its future. The idea of quarantine is simple yet profound and very effective. Readers may find that it is almost difficult to realize the fact that is an idea, a concept that was discovered, figured out, made better and then applied. While readers may know how it is applied, they also understand less about how this idea came around and where it might go.

This book follows along with the idea of quarantine around the world, through time and space. It goes with the story from Venice’s quarantine islands which were constructed before communicable diseases were understood well all the way to the hallways of NASA, the CDC, the cutting-edge labs, and the conference rooms where quarantine’s future tech is being developed. This culminates in the literary tour of an idea that is both relevant and urgent, and gives the reader plenty of stories, insights and people that they won’t want to miss. If you love a good nonfiction work, check this one out and see what you think.

Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves is a 2024 book by Nicola Twilley. In this exploration of refrigeration, this books follows the way that it evolves. It moves from a scientific mystery to an infrastructure that spans the globe. This remarkable book from Twilley looks into how it has reshaped the relationship that we have with food, whether for better or for worse.

So many times in life we decide to open the fridge or look into the freezer, expecting that we will be able to quickly find something in there that is ready to eat and fresh. It is something that the average person does every day and it is a simple act but also one that could readily be taken for granted because of how straight forward that it is.

However, it was only just over a century back in human history that people were not able to experience such an advanced luxury. Years ago, eating food that had been in the fridge could make people both excited and afraid. Banquets were even put on just so that the guest who attended could experience the novel joy of eating foods such as apples, butter and eggs that had been put into cold storage so that it could be preserved for months.

These events were not only fun for the people involved who attended, but it also showed that zombie foods were not deadly. Introducing artificial refrigeration methods was able to turn over a ton of diet history, helping to bring in a new chapter in how humans consumed nutrition. Now people could overcome rot and also seasonality and geography, making phenomena such as tomatoes in the winter possible.

In this book, Twilley decides to invite readers to go along with her on a journey that follows along the cold chain going from farm to fridge, while visiting landmarks that are off the beaten track such as the subterranean cheese caves of Missouri, the rooms in New York City specifically dedicated to ripening bananas, and the huge refrigerated tanks that hold the orange juice reserves of America.

These days, over roughly seventy-five percent of everything that is placed on the average plate in America is processed. Not only that, it is shipped, stored, and sold while refrigerated. In order to make decent sense of the way that our food system operates, one has to understand first the thermal control network that exists within it.

This book focuses on the way that refrigeration has had a complete impact on not only our collective health but our guts as well. It is to try and understand the way that this tech and implementation of it has transformed our tables, farms, kitchens, cities, politics, global economics, and our environment.

When it comes to the developed world, people have benefited from refrigeration for over a century. But as the author outlines and finds out, the costs of operating this way are also starting to catch up. The connection that people have to food is eroded, making the distance between producers and consumers even greater and working to redefine what it is that fresh means.

It’s also important to note that refrigeration has not only had an impact on the way that we store and eat food but also in regards to climate change. The developing world is also working on building its own cold chain similar to that of the United States. In light of this, the author asks whether we will be able to reduce our dependence of refrigerating food and whether we should.

This is an original dive into refrigeration as you have never seen it before. Well researched and reported on, you may find new things out about this invention and how it is put into practice that you never thought of or knew before. One of the most important advents to come about for the history of food (and beverages), Frostbite is insightful and engaging. If you love nonfiction or are just naturally interested in this topic, grab a copy of this book and explore a subject that is part of our everyday lives and find out more!