Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World

The Captain. It has sparked revolutions, been the subject of wars, formed the foundation of national diets, and supported economies and means of subsistence. It has been a treasure more valuable than gold to the millions of people it has supported. Four continents and a millennium are covered in this book. Mark Kurlansky explores the explorers, traders, authors, chefs, and fishermen whose lives have been entwined with this prolific fish, ranging from the Vikings to Clarence Birdseye. He writes a history of the sixteenth and twentieth-century cod warfare. He incorporates folklore and recipes from the Middle Ages to the present. He explains how the most valuable fish in history is now in danger of becoming extinct in a narrative that rivetingly focuses on human emotions and global history.