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ShareWars have been fought over it, revolutions have been spurred by it, national diets have been based on it, economies have depended on it, and the settlement of North America was driven by it.
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Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could.
What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic sagas? Cod -- frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and eaten like hardtack.
What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply of cod.Cod is a charming tour of history with all its economic forces laid bare and a fish story embellished with great gastronomic detail.
It is also a tragic tale of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once the cod's numbers were legendary.
In this deceptively whimsical biography of a fish, Mark Kurlansky brings a thousand years of human civilization into captivating focus..
For more information about the title Cod, read the full description at Amazon.com, or see the following related books:
Salt: A World History — Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long ... > read more
Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound — This acidly funny account of the battle over an offshore wind farm is both a fascinating window on the business and politics of energy and a ... > read more
Fatal Forecast: An Incredible True Tale of Disaster and Survival at Sea — A true story of catastrophe and survival at sea, Fatal Forecast is a spellbinding moment-by-moment account of seventy-two hours in the lives of ... > read more
The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850 — "Climate change is the ignored player on the historical stage," writes archeologist Brian Fagan. But it shouldn't be, not if we know what's good for ... > read moreRecommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
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