I bought this book in 2011 in the Basque Center in Boise, ID. And this is mostly the reason why I bought it. It gave it some respectability. Being published by Penguin was the second factor which decided me: it tends to be some kind of guarantee. The third factor is more stupid. On the cover it says: by the author of SALT and COD. Good, I told me, if the author has already written about salted cod (staple food of the Basques and other Atlantic communities), he must really know. Only later I discovered that it's two books, one about salt and another about cod, that he's written on many subjects. But, nevertheless, his knowledge of the Basqueland is quite good, even excellent.

I wasn't expecting really much from the book, to be honest. It was very likely that it'll be a laudatory book on the author’s adored Basques, given that there are some important stable communities in the Northwest of the USA, or the typical book which is more a journalistic report on anecdotes, taken locally with some nice chap, where the locals are all sweet and lovely. Admittedly, it was about history, but history is where myths are built, ergo a very dangerous thing.

At the end of the book, I must say that I am rather impressed. It has some mystic admiration of a brave race of stubborn people who have resisted for centuries invasion, while making money and being refined and cultivated, even if they play rude games involving brute force, etc. But the facts are quite correct, from what I more or less know, which is a mix of a Francoist indoctrination, plus reading works by nationalists, plus discussions with Basque friends of differing views. I would say that the author places himself in this middle ground which is difficult to live in Spain (you have to take sides, else you are on the other side, don’t ask me other from what!). The result is quite a good, although journalistic, description of the main milestones of Basque history.

Deserves special mention the issue of toponymy, always a difficult one. The author gets most of the names right, but has some hesitations. Thus, he is able to distinguish between the Basque way of writing Guernica (Gernika) and the Spanish way, which is the one commonly used by him and the one used for the famous Picasso painting. But then, why writing Muxika, instead of Mújica? There are a number of cases like this. On orthography now, it because very curious the mix of ‘z’ and ‘s’ due to the change in writing convention from the original one established by Sabino Arana (Basqueland is Euzkadi) to the one widely used today (Euskadi). The author, without much telling, uses the z when talking about Arana and the s in subsequent chapters.

Summarising, it is far from being the reference book, it is somehow feel-good, it is much about the four Sourthern provinces, even the three composing present day Euskadi, but it’s informative and rather neutral.

The book is pretty old at this point and woefully out of date. About the first third is pretty interesting stuff - while objectivity is never Kurlansky's strong suit, it begins to feel more like propaganda afterwards. It might not have felt like that had the point of the book been evident: at times it was fawning over Basque cooking and home life, at times obsessing over the language, often coming across as ETA sympathy, but it's a much weaker component and much less rigorous than the first third.

Mark Kurlansky's books are dense, and it takes me a little while to work my way through them. Inevitably, there are parts where I become a little bored. For instance, in this particular book, there is a lot of military history, a subject in which I find it difficult to engage; I understand its importance, but there is always that moment when difficult-to-pronounce names begin to run together, and the maneuverings of this battalion or that become confused. I would much rather be presented with only the results and implications of a battle than its details.

Despite this, though, I was absolutely fascinated by this book. I would catch myself thinking about it while pursuing other tasks, and I started to notice parallels and connections in everything around me, especially other books I was reading and documentaries I was watching. A book that makes me think that much has a claim on my affections.

I had no idea that so many of the products and ideas I take for granted originated in the Basque culture, and I find myself curious to know more about these little-discussed people. I also enjoy Kurlansky's style, though it does drift to dry occasionally, and I really liked the organization of the book; it seemed like each section started with an apocryphal account of some key Basque event, or an interpretation of historical fact by modern Basques, and this focus on the individual really made the struggles and triumphs of an entire culture feel completely personal. I found myself (briefly) angry at a world that could turn its back on these people in their time of need.

I will definitely be seeking out other information about Basques, I will definitely be reading other books by Kurlansky, and I will definitely be dreaming about a trip to the north of Spain sometime in the future.

A great introduction to Basque culture and history! I felt the editing of this could be better though; the author would go from discussing intense political developments in the Franco regime, then do a chapter on eating eels, then back to politics, which I found a little jarring!

Enjoyable, as all Kurlansky books are. To the detractors, you have to keep in mind how Kurlansky writes. This is not a PhD dissertation or a text book, with pretentions of being the beginning and end of research about Basques, this is a Trivial Pursuit game with your smart friend or a casual but fascinating conversation with that stranger on a plane who shares tidbits of knowledge with you about one of his favourite subjects. That's it. No pretentions. It's just a collection of interesting information, some erudite and some banal. If you approach Kurlansky's books thinking you are going to get a treatise on a subject (Basque, Cod, Salt, Non-Violence) you are going to be disappointed, but that's on you. Kurlansky researches a subject that interests him and then he grinds all that up and puts together a narrative that, while certainly educational and informative, is foremost entertaining and easily read.

I bought this book randomly at a book store near where I lived in Crouch End, London, back in 2001. I knew nothing of the Basques other than what I saw on Euro News (mostly ETA terrorism). The writer presents an interesting and lively story of a people whose language is unrelated to any other in the world (and as a linguist, I loved this!) and an insight into their rich culture, which predates many others. I enjoyed getting to know the Basques away from all the bad press, and later on, as a graduate student in Denver, wrote a paper on Basque culture and drove up to Boulder one Saturday to meet a Basque woman and hear her perspective.

If you had asked me a few months ago what I knew about the Basques, I would have probably mentioned Spain and France and tossed in a beret for good measure. In other words, not much. Last August an exchange student from Spain came to live in our home for the school year. Only she wasn't just from Spain, she is from Eibar, a city in Basqueland. That's when I began to read about the Basques and their ancient culture, ancient land, and of course, ancient language--Euskera, which our young exchange student speaks.

Mark Kurlansky's work is a wonderful exploration of all things Basque, from topography to gastronome. Whether aboard a fishing boat bound for Newfoundland prior to Columbus' journey to America, or slipping at night across Basque hill country between unmarked borders during Franco's brutal reign, each chapter unpacks the enduring history of the Basque people. The alluring aromas of Basque dishes almost drift up from the pages which also contain numerous traditional recipes, tempting the reader to drop the book and head for the kitchen. Kurlansky's ability to capture the soul of the Basque people in the details of their daily lives, the rhythm of their history, and the determination to maintain their identity against the pounding surf of time makes for an enthralling read.

mark kurlanksy has a real gift for taking a potentially great subject & running it into the ground with his painful writing style. he's a classic pop historian, more interested in writing about himself & what a totally awesome dude he is than the subject his book is supposed to be addressing...or he writes about his perceived self-awesomeness through the prism & drama provided by his subject. but unlike some other authors who certainly inject plenty of their own personalities into books that are ostensibly about some historical aspect of the world, he clings tenaciously to the pretense that he is a valuable & important historian. just shut up, mark kurlansky. dial down the ego & let me know when you're ready to be a real author. the basque nation was such great fodder for a potentially super-interesting books, &...nothing.

Like Korea, Basqueland lies in territory claimed by two countries, France and Spain instead of Japan and China. Before France and Spain were nations the Basque were in play. The French mostly ignored the Basque. After the Muslims and Jews were chased out of Spain around 1492 the Spanish were casting about for a cultural identity. I'm weak on Spanish history, don't know when Spain became a naval sea power. Basque shipbuilders probably built most of the Spanish ships which propelled Spanish exploration and sea power. What would the Vikings have been without Floki type creative shipbuilders? What would Spain have been without Basque shipbuilders?

Without the Basque land, people, and culture Spain would be a third world country. France, Spain and Italy have claimed Basque accomplishments for their own. I was surprised to learn Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits is a Basque.

In 1940 Franco, Spanish dictator, wanted to enter the war. At a meeting with Hitler, Franco talked of his supply needs, Hitler talked of his war problems. Hitler decided the conversation was pointless to continue and left. Hitler referred to Franco as "Jesuit Swine."

The Basque have not been a formally recognized political, or religious institution. Basque accomplishments, both individual and business are counted as Spanish accomplishments. How can a Basque be identified when they can't decide who is a Basque and who isn't? Kurlansky poses interesting questions about one's culture. Outside of immediate family, the Basque refer to themselves as "Our".

Question for 2017 reading: What role did the Basque play in Spanish medieval history and Catholic history? Was Roderigo Borgia the first Spanish pope of Basque origin like Ignatius Loyola?

Read this for/during a two-week trip to the Basque country. Full of juicy fun facts, therefore entertaining to read, for someone like me who has no prior knowledge of Basque (and Spanish) history or culture. It's not a hardcore history book that you would make academic references to.
Some keywords: fighting for independent Basque state, food culture, whale-hunting and sailing.

This is a fascinating book about a mysterious people. The ancestral Basque homelands lie on the border between France and Spain, encompassing a bit of each country's territory.

While the Basque are officially considered citizens of Spain, they consider themselves a separate group entirely. They are a mysterious group because anthropologists can't say exactly where they, or their native language, came from, only that both their physical traits and language have little in common with either the French or the Spanish. This book proffers a mixture of theory and recent scholarship to try and solve the mystery of the Basque: who are they, where did they come from, and how have they survived as a separate and unique people for so long?

It's a very interesting read, and not at all dry or highly technical like many of these anthro-theory nonfiction books can be.

The book was informative and written by the author of 1968: The Year that Rocked the World, Mark Kurlansky, who is an excellent writer. His story of the Basque people didn’t come together quite as well for me as 1968, a book that really fascinated me with its insights. The final chapter of the Basque book featured the annual neighborhood butchering of a pig in rather gruesome detail, in preparation for a traditional festival—not really to my taste, to put it mildly. Another chapter that influenced my lack of enthusiasm was all about eels—another rather unpleasant subject for me. I guess I’m just squeamish about some things people eat! The actual history was quite interesting, if not brimming with new information, but I learned a great deal about all things Basque, with rather a lot about their unique language. The Basque people have a fascinating history and deserve to be studied and written about. The book increased my knowledge of the subject, and I enjoyed it, for the most part. Kurlansky is a journalist by trade and writes very well for a general audience.