[2] Reay Tannahill was born on 9 December 1929[3] in Glasgow, Scotland,[4] where she was brought up.
[4] She was educated at Shawlands Academy, and obtained an MA in history and a postgraduate certificate in Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.
[3] Until her death on 2 November 2007 she lived in a terraced house in London near Tate Britain.
[4] Before she started to write, she worked as a probation officer, advertising copywriter, newspaper reporter, historical researcher and graphic designer.
For her 2002 revised edition of Food in History, she won the Premio Letterario Internazionale Chianti Ruffino Antico Fattore.