Cod

A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World

By: Mark Kurlansky

Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson

“A charming fish tale and a pretty gift for your favorite seafood cook or fishing monomaniac. But in the last analysis, it’s a bitter ecological fable for our time.”—Los Angeles Times

An unexpected, energetic look at world history via the humble cod fish from the bestselling author of Salt and The Basque History of the World

Cod 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. 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. 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. In this lovely, thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world’s folly?

“Every once in a while a writer of particular skill takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight. Such is the case of Mark Kurlansky and the codfish."—David McCullough

©1997 Mark Kurlansky (P)2001 Recorded Books

Brilliant

Excellent book with so many fun facts. Not just about cod, but the shaping of the American and their early (as well as modern) politics. Would recommend to almost anyone.

So much fascinating History

I love this book. every time I listen, I hear something new. The recipes make it fun!

Informative and fun.

I enjoy this sort of single subject narrative and would like more. For instance I have The Story of Salt; a similar history of apples, and of course The Caelocanth 'prehistoric' fish. There must be others!

end a little dull. history great

historical part of the book is terrific. There's a lot of recipes that become kind of tedious. All in all it was fun

A bit dull for my tastes

Any additional comments?

Although I learned a lot, this didn't work well for me as an audiobook. The subject matter was too dry for my taste.