 Food and Friends...
Written by one of the ladies who were Julia Child's cohorts in France - She goes by Simca and for the LIFE of me I can't remember her real name.
Anything by The Frugal Gourmet just by the fact that he wrote it, contains some food history.
Becoming a Chef has great stories and recipes about how chefs climbed up the ladder to get where they are. My fave gnocchi recipe is by Todd English and is in this book. | 
