Cod

You may remember hearing about Mark Kurlansky's book when it first hit big over a decade ago. If you passed on it at the time, consider giving it a read now.

It's not a massive tome, but a fun little book that looks at the history of one small fish and how that story had an impact on many other stories through history.

Perhaps most interesting is how cod influenced the discovery and exploration of the new world. Kurlansky, using the judicious eye of both historian and journalist juxtaposes those ancient tales with the state of modern cod fishing, which may in fact represent the end of the history of cod fishing as anything other than casual pastime

The cute extra touch with this book is cod recipes and tips for those of you who can afford salt cod.

The book is reminder of the early importance of fishing and the seagoing way of life in America. Kurlansky does not belabor his point, nor drag it out, and one of the tiny remarkable features of the book is how succinctly and aptly he can sum up events such as, say, the American revolution.

A quick read, but interesting and fun (from the same author who gave us a history of salt).