
Author/Contributor(s): | Kurlansky, Mark |
Publisher: | Penguin Books |
Date: | 02/01/2001 |
Binding: | Paperback |
Condition: | NEW |
Mark Kurlansky's passion for the Basque people and his exuberant eye for detail shine throughout this fascinating book. Like Cod, The Basque History of the World, blends human stories with economic, political, literary, and culinary history into a rich and heroic tale.
Among the Basques' greatest accomplishments:
- Exploration--the first man to circumnavigate the globe, Juan Sebastian de Elcano, was a Basque and the Basques were the second Europeans, after the Vikings, in North America- Gastronomy and agriculture--they were the first Europeans to eat corn and chili peppers and cultivate tobacco, and were among the first to use chocolate
- Religion--Ignatius Loyola, a Basque, founded the Jesuit religious order
- Business and politics--they introduced capitalism and modern commercial banking to southern Europe
- Recreation--they invented beach resorts, jai alai, and racing regattas, and were the first Europeans to play sports with balls
"A delectable portrait of an uncanny, indomitable nation." -Newsday
"Exciting, Illuminating, and thought provoking." -The Boston Globe
Entertaining and instructive... [Kurlansky's] approach is unorthodox, mixing history with anecdotes, poems with recipes." -The New York Times Book Review