Before World War II, for most Britons visiting a restaurant was a rare indulgence; dining out for pleasure was a habit largely of the well-off. But after wartime food restrictions finally ended in the mid-1950s, rising standards of living began to create markets for new kinds of consumption, leisure, and entertainment, and commercial catering took off. By the 1990s, restaurant sales had reached 20 billion pounds a year--or one- third of total food expenditures--through more than 300,000 outlets offering foods of all kinds. Burnett (emeritus, social history, Brunel U.) traces the changes in England's dining habits in coffee rooms and chop-houses, in luxury hotels and fish-and-chip shops, in pubs, burger bars, and curry takeaways. Peppered with b&w images and eight color plates. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)