In this study, award-winning author Kurlansky examines Europe's oldest and most mysterious surviving culture from pre-Roman times to the present. The Basques fought with Hannibal against Rome and became the first to circumnavigate the globe when a Basque took the helm after Magellan's death. They were Europe's first commercial whalers and played a prominent role in commerce with the New World. The author's lively style is most endearing; he'll often use Basque recipes as a means of transition. Since this does a first-rate job explaining relations among modern Basques, Spaniards, and Europeans, the work is an important source. What makes this recorded book version so exquisite is George Guidall's magnificent narration he finds drama and humor where no one else can. James L. Dudley, Westhampton Beach, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Straddling the border of southern France and northern Spain, the land of the Basques has long been home to a people who had no country of their own but have always viewed themselves as a nation. In this marvelous work of cultural history and appreciation, Kurlansky traces Basque history from pre-Roman times, when Basques worked as the mercenaries of Carthage, to the region's recent renaissance in language and arts. Along the way, he explains how the Basques came to be among Europe's first whalers, capitalists, explorers, industrialists and international traders. As he did in Cod, Kurlansky fuses political and economic history with delightful digressions into cultural and culinary traditions (several delicious recipes are included). The book is as politically loaded with opinion as it is culturally informative: Kurlansky expresses sympathy for the cause of Basque independence, arguing that many of Spain's current policies toward its Basque minority are holdovers from the repressive Franco regime. He also tends to accept the claim that the Basques "are the original Europeans," largely on the ground that Euskera, the Basque language, appears to have no linguistic relative and is likely the oldest European language still spoken. For all the ground it covers, this wildly informative work is a marvel of clarity, glittering with unusual facts and marked by penetrating insights into a people always "making complex choices about the degree of independence that was needed to preserve their way of life, while looking to the rest of the world for commercial opportunities to ensure their prosperity." 56 illustrations, 6 maps, 10 recipes. Agent, Charlotte Sheedy Agency. 5-city author tour. (Oct.) FYI: Cod received the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing and was a New York Public Library Best Book of 1997. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

One of the most intriguing disclosures, for most readers, of Kurlansky's superb trade history with recipes, Cod (1997), was that, in search of the nutritious fish, Basque fishermen "discovered" America, quite possibly centuries before Columbus. In his new book, Kurlansky shows that that was just one first or near-first for the mysterious people who have inhabited the western foothills of the Pyrenees and the angle of the Bay of Biscay since Paleolithic times, perhaps, but certainly long before the French and Spanish who claim Basque lands as part of their nations arrived. The Basques speak a language unrelated to any other, yet Basque literature arose as late as the 1890s. The Basques anticipated the rest of Europe as capitalists, selling shares in fishing expeditions. In the eighteenth century, the Basque city Bilbao became the major iron producer in Europe, and though the English displaced them by inventing steel smelting, Basque industrialists regained much lost business as soon as they obtained Bessemer converters. Most important, the Basques have been shining examples of nationalists uninterested in empire and, often in their history, even uninterested in being a political entity. They have historically coexisted with powerful neighbors by insisting primarily upon keeping their own laws and customs, which during most of the twentieth century have been denied them, leading to the creation of self-conscious, militant nationalism and the label Basque separatist, which Kurlansky's absorbing popular history attests does not accurately reflect what most Basques desire. They are a singularly admirable people whose distinctive character combines deep conservatism and high adventurousness. And they can and have cooked brilliantly, including, incidentally, ingredients from outside Europe, such as corn, that they adopted long before other Europeans. Kurlansky gives recipes to prove that point--of course! --Ray Olson

A comprehensive view of all things Basque, from the author of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997). The Basque History of the World is an honorable title, alerting readers to its singularly Basque-centric mix of cultural studies, history, and politics. The writing is direct and accessible, although limited by the occasional descriptive clich‚ ('jagged mountains' and 'crisp fall days'). It's most interesting when describing the periods when Basque history intersects with the history of the larger world. For example, in a section on the Spanish Civil War, Kurlansky utilizes quotes from survivors of the 1937 bombing of Guernica by Franco's forces, the first large-scale use of air power against a civilian population, to create a sense of suspense, dread, and terror. The bravery of members of the Basque underground, who helped over 700 downed Allied fliers escape from Nazi-occupied territory to England during WWII, is also depicted through compelling first-person recollections. The last third of the book, covering the post-WWII period and the radicalization of a faction of the Basque independence movement, is most problematic. While Kurlansky adeptly explains the logic for Basque autonomy and presents the most radical wings' justification for its historical use of terrorism, his analysis too often accepts the Basque view at face value and offers no independent perspective. Perhaps this is because Kurlansky is enamored of his subject, especially the Basque language, Euskera. Euskera warrants attention, as it's a unique non-Indo-European language with no known linguistic relatives. Kurlansky knows the Basques well and includes many entertaining anecdotes, myths, and facts about them, all of which reflect a quaint Basque chauvinism. According to the author, the Basque are: probably the original Europeans, the first Europeans to cultivate tobacco, the first bankers in Spain, the most devout Catholics in the world, and among the inventors of beach resorts. In its entirety, this is an informative but ethnocentric history that readers should approach with their critical faculties intact. (Author tour)