Book excerpt: American soldiers and sailors have progressed from simple campfire and ship's deck cooking to today's nutritionally sound, menu diverse, high tech, and ethnically correct feeding options. This book describes in great detail the development of rations used by America's military war by war from the Revolutionary period to the present, especially the challenges of preserving and transporting the food. It discusses research into rations, the evolution of the training of cooks and bakers and others, and various methods of storage, preparation, and distribution of food. Numerous first-person accounts appear throughout. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.