"Rarely has a man defined the spirit of an age as well as Alexis Soyer: celebrity chef, best-selling author, entrepreneur, inventor, philanthropist and popular hero of the Crimean War. Soyer designed the world famous kitchens of London's Reform Club - which he filled with such ingenious inventions as the gas stove and steam lifts. He set up the most innovative culinary theme park ever seen in the capital, and he devised the sauces and relishes that would help make household names of Mr. Cosse and Mr. Blackwell. In the 1840s he set up revolutionary soup kitchens during the Irish potato famine, and in the following decade risked his life by travelling to the Crimea where he transformed army catering and saved thousands of soldiers from malnutrition and even starvation. Alexis Soyer was one of the most famous names of the early Victorian age, and his legacy lives on through the radical military reforms his work set in train. He was also - in the spirit of the age - a secret bigamist, near bankrupt and alcoholic. This brilliant man was, during his lifetime, as famous as the great men he regularly brushed shoulders with - Thackeray, Disraeli, Dickens and Palmerston - but he dropped completely from public view after his untimely death. His friend Florence Nightingale wrote that his passing was 'a great disaster' for the nation. Despite making several fortunes he died virtually penniless, his personal papers disappeared, his funeral was a hushed-up affair and today his grave lies neglected and rotting in Kensal Green Cemetery."--Book jacket.