Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World - Softcover

Fagan, Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465022855 ISBN 13: 9780465022854

Publisher: Basic Books, 2007

Synopsis

What gave Christopher Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean? Fish on Friday tells the story of the discovery of America as a product of the long sweep of history: the spread of Christianity and the radical cultural changes it brought to Europe, the interaction of economic necessity with a changing climate, and generations of unknown fishermen who explored the North Atlantic in the centuries before Columbus. A fascinating and multifaceted book, Fish on Friday will intrigue everyone who wonders how the vast forces of climate, culture, and technology conspire to create the history we know.

About this title

About the Author:

Brian Fagan is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he has written many internationally acclaimed popular books about archaeology, including The Little Ice Age, Floods, Famines, and Emperors, and The Long Summer. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Review:

"Enthralling history of one of our basic foods." -- Anne Willan

"A lively social history that will captivate readers of Mark Kurlansky and Jared Diamond."

"Delightful.... The author's intelligence, erudition, and sheer enthusiasm for his subject shine through on every page." -- William Chester Jordan

"Brian Fagan weaves a detective story of Friday fish-eating, climate change, and ship design to guess who beat Columbus to the New World." -- Jared Diamond

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0465022855
• ISBN 13: 9780465022854
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368