Kurlansky effectively weaves philosophical thought with facts and vignettes on the history of the various cod fishing enterprises that have emerged and faded through the ages. The cod fish has played a major role in the economics, sustainability and diplomacy of many countries and societies throughout history, explains Kurlansky (A Continent of Islands).
No fish story, this is a sapient and vivid chronology of the immense impact and influence the cod fishing industry has had on the human race. Such is the case of Mark Kurlansky and the codfish.” –David McCullough “Every once in a while a writer of particular skill takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight. In this lovely, thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world's folly? As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were legendary.
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.
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. Cod, it turns out, is the reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic, and it is the only reason they could. But in the last analysis, it’s a bitter ecological fable for our time.” – Los Angeles TimesĪn unexpected, energetic look at world history via the humble cod fish from the bestselling author of Salt and The Basque History of the WorldĬod is the biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history with this humble fish as its recurring main character. “A charming fish tale and a pretty gift for your favorite seafood cook or fishing monomaniac.
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