This is an interesting, if rather shallow look into the cooking (mostly what I would call baking) of the 1600s to the 1970s when this was written. The author introduces each section with a bit of description of how things were done in early days in Europe and America for the most part. It has recipes for bread, cake, cookie and other dessert recipes. No meats, vegetables or other foods. The recipes themselves have been "modernized" to standard (American) measurements and cooking techniques. There isn't much history given on the recipes or their origins.
I prefer my older cookbooks to find the actual recipes, and I have read much better histories about cooking, but for convenience and fun, this seems to have solid and tasty recipes to make. ( )