Award-winning food writer Stefan Gates has travelled the world to investigate how people cook, eat and survive in extreme conditions for the acclaimed BBC television seriesCooking in the Danger Zone. He drank radioactive wine with babushkas in Chernobyl, ate fat-tailed sheep with Taliban warlords in Afghanistan, yak's penis with Chinese Communists, civet cat with the Karen rebels deep in the Burmese jungle and rotting walrus with the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic.

In this book Stefan takes us on an extraordinary personal journey as he tries to understand a world in crisis, and meets people caught up in war, poverty and environmental disasters. This behind-the-scenes account is hugely entertaining and thought provoking, blending war and food, ethics and emotions, comedy and tragedy.

Stefan Gates is a writer and broadcaster who first introduced the nation to the wilder side of gastronomy in BBC2'sFull on Food. His bookGastronautwon a Gourmand World Cookbook Award and was shortlisted for a Guild of Food Writers' Award. He spent two years travelling the world writing and filmingCooking in the Danger Zone.

Stefan has worked as a journalist, scriptwriter and TV producer. He lives in London with his wife, two daughters and a fridge full of weird food.