Christel Lane is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and a Fellow of St. John's College at the University of Cambridge, UK. Professor Lane's work on fine-dining restaurants in Britain and Germany and on gastropubs combines her long-standing interest in economic and organizational sociology with the sociology of culture. Her previous books include The Cultivation of Taste: Chefs and the Organization of Fine Dining (Oxford University Press, 2014), and she has published articles on food and dining in Food, Culture and Society, British Journal of Sociology, Poetics, and Industry and Innovation.

"From Taverns to Gastropubs: Food, Drink, and Sociality in England, by Christel Lane, is an astutely observed study...[T]he author certainly exceeds, and this means that the book is a welcome and valuable offering." -- Thomas Thurnell-Read, Loughborough University, American Journal of Sociology

"This interesting, well-written book embraces a historical and sociological perspective to examine the changing meaning of traditional English public houses since the late medieval era and to highlight the impact of newly minted gastropubs on the social life of modern Englanders." --F. H. Smith, North Carolina A & T State University

"From Taverns to Gastropubs is a timely study of a rather neglected institution, the pub, that is part of British national identity and (like many other national institutions) has been rather under threat recently. Lane's study is a model of 'mixed methods' research, which not only traces a long process of historical development but also, through interviews and quantitative data, shows how gastropubs represent a current survival strategy in a rapidly changing eating environment." -- Stephen Mennell, University College Dublin