Crunch: The History of Crisps

by Natalie Whittle

256 pages, Paperback

Published June 5, 2025

Reviews

[Ben White · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who eats 2 packets (25g multipack size before you judge too much) of Walkers C&O every day - around 10/10.30am - I was given this as a birthday present.
Great book! Well researched, some interesting interviews and quotes and I even learned a few bits about crisp production and potato types.
Well done Natalie!

[abi slade · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

pros ✅
- the chapter on gary lineker/marketing/advertising/the purchasing power of under 16s was the most interesting to me
- great conclusion, very funny last pages
- fantastic cover and branding, loved that the book looked like a bag of crisps
- some of the business stuff interested me more than i expected

cons ❌
- not as fun as i expected
- as silly as it sounds, i would’ve liked more personal stories and anecdotes about crisps. the infrequent ones that were included were good and funny and i would’ve liked more
- didn’t give a shit about the science of crisps
- took far longer for me to read than it should’ve but i honestly just wasn’t reaching for it at all
- i was often bored

[Jen loves Dallas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book, incredibly well researched, well written, informative around a multitude of themes and had me laughing in places. I will continue to be utterly devoted to salt and vinegar, but I plan to try fried egg flavour. I agree that crisps are associated with nostalgic memories - the excitement of vending machine crisps at the swimming pool in the 70s is mine.

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Never read a book that felt like it was written just for me, until this one.