A delicious and delightful narrative history of pie in America

From pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving to apple pie on the Fourth of July, nearly every American shares a certain nostalgia for a simple circle of crust and filling. But for centuries, pie has been a malleable icon, equally enjoyed at the table and coopted for social and political purposes. After all, it was a slice of cherry pie denied at the Woolworth’s lunch counter that ignited a wave of anti-segregation protests across the South during the civil rights movement. Molasses pie, a Southern favorite, captures the legacies of racial trauma and oppression passed down from America’s history of slavery, and Jell-O pie exemplifies the pressures and contradictions of gender roles in an evolving modern society. We all know the warm comfort of the so-called all-American apple pie … but just how did pie become the symbol of a nation?

In Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies, food writer Rossi Anastopoulo cracks open our relationship to pie with wit and good humor. She traces the pies woven into our history, following the evolution of our country across centuries of innovation and change and examining how America’s relationship with this iconic dessert impacted culture across eras—and vice versa.

With corresponding recipes for each chapter, Sweet Land of Liberty is an entertaining, informative, and utterly charming food history for bakers, dessert lovers, and history aficionados alike. Ultimately, the story of pie is the story of America itself, and it’s time to dig in.