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

How fisherman beat Columbus to the New World, all fueled by the European appetite for fish.  

“Brian Fagan weaves a detective story of Friday fish-eating.”―Jared Diamond, New York Times bestselling author of Guns, Germs, and Steel 

What gave Christopher Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean? It would be convenient to believe that Columbus and his men were uniquely courageous. A more reasonable explanation, however, is that Columbus was heir to a body of knowledge about seas and ships acquired at great cost over many centuries. 

Fish on Friday tells a new story of the discovery of America. In Brian Fagan's view, that discovery is the 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. Encompassing ancient mythology, medieval religion, boatbuilding, commerce, and cutting-edge climate science, this dazzling and wide-ranging book shows the intricate tapestry of history in all its fascinating, astonishing complexity. 

Brian Fagan (1936-2025) was one of the world's leading archaeological writers. He was a distinguished professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of numerous books, including The Little Ice Age and the New York Times bestseller The Great Warming.