[.ca] Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World (ISBN 0676971113)

From Amazon.com:
You probably enjoy eating codfish, but reading about them? Mark Kurlansky has written a fabulous book--well worth your time--about a fish that probably has mattered more in human history than any other. The cod helped inspire the discovery and exploration of North America. It had a profound impact upon the economic development of New England and eastern Canada from the earliest times. Today, however, overfishing is a constant threat. Kurlansky sprinkles his well-written and occasionally humorous history with interesting asides on the possible origin of the word codpiece and dozens of fish recipes. Sometimes a book on an offbeat or neglected subject really makes the grade. This is one of them.

Great fish story:
If you enjoy popular nonfiction such as The Perfect Storm, Longitude, or A Walk in the Woods, you'll enjoy this book. The connecting thread is that in each of these, the author uses an interesting narrative angle to describe historical trends and scientific facts without being overly pedantic or dry.

beware with explosive fish:
Originality and patriotism are good things. Cod and his fishing also is. But that definitely isn't by nothing good it's to say that Basques are a special and almost unique race in the World: nationalism are not patriotism neither terrorism. Kurlansky affirms Basques are good sailors and fishermen, and this is true, but he forgets to say Basques weren't nothing withouth the money the Crown of Castilla used to pay him for these labours from the XIIIth century. Basques used to isolate when later Spain declined and turned poor and delayed, and moreover, today, Basque, by means of ETA terrorism have produced until now from 1964, about 1000 people murdered in Spain -I think more than Al Capone in his Chicago days- and they have a good autonomic regime plenty of liberty. Franco's repression was the same in all provinces of Spain, Basques or not. But it seems that to live by the gun is easier than cooking a Cod. This book is amusing, but the author makes a dark, bitter mixture and so, an indigestible meal. Today the times need more care about what we write.

What a dish!:
This book has to be one of the most entertaining history texts in, well, history. I couldn't put it down. What a joy!

Let's Kill All the Cod:
"Cod the Fish etc." is a breezy informative read especially for those interested in some of the driving forces to early trade patterns between the continent, new world and West Indies. The former two desired sugar, mollasses and rum and the latter used the cod to feed to the slaves who,in turn, were fed to the sugar cane fields. More anecdotal than statistical,"Cod the Fish that Changed the World" could have expanded on the slave trade and the economy of early New England (or New Virginia)but is,nonetheless, a pleasure to read. Actually went out and ate some;I had forgot the taste. Oh yes. We ate most of the Cod, and many fishing dependent areas have gone wanting and the industry has far too much capacity.

Interesting and informative , but ...:
This book is another interesting and informative, but narrow subject history book of the type this author prefers to write. In some sections it poses as a cookbook. I was irritated by the amount of text actually devoted to Codfish recipes, when what I purchased was a historical type book . The author has a very good writing style. The book covers the early history of some cultures that took advantage of this bottom dwelling fish prized for its unique white meat. The Codfish affected these early cultures as it still does today, where regional and national economies are suffering from the impact of worldwide diminishing Codfish stocks in spite of some sporadic conservation measures. This reader recommends ignoring the all too frequent codfish recipes interspersed with the good historical information. This book makes for a fine compact interesting history of man's relationship with the Codfish. Ignore the historical section and I suppose it would be a passable Codfish cookbook.