Cod

Description

Wars have been fought over it, revolutions have been spurred by it, national diets have been founded on it, economies and livelihoods have depended on it, the settlement of North America was based on it. To those it has sustained, it is a treasure more precious than gold. It is the codfish, whose story – concisely and eloquently told by Mark Kurlansky – casts a fascinating and revealing fight on world history.COD spans a thousand years and four continents. From the extraordinary Basques, who first commercialized cod in medieval times, to Bartholomew Gosnold, who named Cape Cod in 1602, to Clarence Birdseye, who founded an industry on frozen cod in the 1930s; from 17th century cod wars to the story of how this once ubiquitous fish is today faced with extinction, dramatizing a global ecological crisis; from Nova Scotia and New England to Scandinavia, the coast of England, Brazil, and West Africa; Kurlansky tells a story that, through its narrow lens, open world history to readers in remarkable new ways.COD is enriched by historical photographs, drawings, and artifacts, as well as a collection of recipes, from the Middle Ages to great contemporary chefs, which tell their own piece of the legacy of the codfish.

First Sentence

A medieval fisherman is said to have hauled up a three-foot-long cod, which was common enough at the time.

Description

Cod spans a thousand years and four continents. From the Vikings, who pursued the codfish across the Atlantic, and the enigmatic Basques, who first commercialized it in medieval times, to Bartholomew Gosnold, who named Cape Cod in 1602, and Clarence Birdseye, who founded an industry on frozen cod in the 1930s, Mark Kurlansky introduces the explorers, merchants, writers, chefs, and of course the fishermen, whose lives have interwoven with this prolific fish. He chronicles the fifteenth-century politics of the Hanseatic League and the cod wars of the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. He embellishes his story with gastronomic detail, blending in recipes and lore from the Middle Ages to the present. And he brings to life the cod itself: its personality, habits, extended family, and ultimately the tragedy of how the most profitable fish in history is today faced with extinction. From fishing ports in New England and Newfoundland to coastal skiffs, schooners, and factory ships across the Atlantic; from Iceland and Scandinavia to the coasts of England, Brazil, and West Africa, Mark Kurlansky tells a story that brings world history and human passions into captivating focus. The codfish. Wars have been fought over it, revolutions have been spurred by it, national diets have been based on it, economies and livelihoods have depended on it, and the settlement of North America was driven by it. To the millions it has sustained, it has been a treasure more precious than gold. Indeed, the codfish has played a fascinating and crucial role in world history.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the WorldPenguin (Non-Classics)1998-07-01
• CodHardcoverWalker and Co.1997-01-01
• CodHardcoverWalker & Company1997-06-01
• CodJonathan Cape1998-01-01
• CodJonathan Cape1998-02-01
• CodUnknown BindingArrow/Children s (A Division of Random House Group)1999-01-01