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The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation | 
| Author: Mark Kurlansky
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $2.77
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Avg. Customer Rating:  78 reviews
Sales Rank: 39853
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0140298517
Dewey Decimal Number: 946.6
EAN: 9780140298512
ASIN: 0140298517
Publication Date: February 1, 2001
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Amazon.com Review
The buzz about the Guggenheim Bilbao aside, the Basques seldom get good press--from the 12th-century Codex of Calixtus ("A Basque or Navarrese would do in a French man for a copper coin") to current news items about ETA, the Basque nationalist group. Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod, sets out to change all that in The Basque History of the World. "The singular remarkable fact about the Basques is that they still exist," Kurlansky asserts. Without a defined country (other than Euskadi, otherwise known as "Basqueland"), with no known related ethnic groups, the Basques are an anomaly in Europe. What unites the Basques, above all, is their language--Euskera. According to ETA, "Euskera is the quintessence of Euskadi. So long as Euskera is alive, Euskadi will live." To help provide a complete picture of the Basques, Kurlansky looks at their political, economic, social, and even culinary history, from the valiant Basque underground in World War II to medieval whalers to modern makers of the gateau Basque. The most affecting chapter focuses on Guernica, a small market town bombed by German planes for over three hours on April 26, 1937, and uses interviews with survivors to illustrate the horror of the attack. Kurlansky is clearly enamored of the Basques, which leads him to see them in a uniformly positive light. That rosy outlook aside, The Basque History of the World is an excellent introduction to these romantic people. Are they the original Europeans? Kurlansky doesn't weigh in on the issue, preferring instead to honor the Basque request Garean gareana legez--let us be what we are. --Sunny Delaney
Product Description
Straddling a small corner of Spain and France in a land that is marked on no maps except their own, the Basques are a puzzling contradiction-they are Europe's oldest nation without ever having been a country. No one has ever been able to determine their origins, and even the Basques' language, Euskera-the most ancient in Europe-is related to none other on earth. For centuries, their influence has been felt in nearly every realm, from religion to sports to commerce. Even today, the Basques are enjoying what may be the most important cultural renaissance in their long existence.
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 73 more reviews...
 It's a history, it's a cook book... it's both? August 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Yes, it's an interesting book about an interesting subject but it does seem to go on some tangents. The inclusion of recipes (like I can find baby eels in Fayetteville) gets to be a little annoying at times. A great work to get familiar with this unique people but it's heavily colored by the author's thesis about Basques in the EU. It might be good to supplement it with a more conventional book on Basque folkways and culture.
 a beautiful book about a beautiful country May 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
kurlansky does a wonderful job telling the history and describing the basque culture to readers. after having spent several months in bilbao, the basque culture is something that i learned to love and appreciate. kurlansky captures the essence of this sometimes hard to explain culture.
 A fabulous book about a fabulously interesting culture February 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is a great book for all those who have heard of the Basques but don't know much about who they really are. It is well written, interesting, and full of great stories that will bring these often forgotten people to life. A must read for anyone interested in European History, or who teaches Social Studies!
Delightful Account of a Unique Culture February 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have read about the Basques for many years. My interest began as a teen-ager when I began studying the Spanish Civil War in which the Basques played a key, albeit schizophrenic, role. They fascinated me with their language that was unrelated to all other known laguages. Their persistent independence and their stoic nature added to their mystic.
I was also interested because my grandfather was a member of a European minority (Frisian) and that led my interest to other European minorities. I had noticed this book in the NY Review of Books and it looked interesting. It wasn't until this past summer that I bought a copy of it. We were travelling through Boise, ID and we stopped at the Basque Cultural Center and their museum. I wish I had read the book first because we ate lunch at a Basque restaurant but I didn't know what dishes they were best known for. The museum reminded me of much of what I had already read about the Basques and it also made me aware of their whaling history.
"The Basque History of the World" covers just about all of the aspects of their history and culture. There was a lot of information new to me (i.e. the Basques may have been the first Europeans to set foot on the North American continent). There is an extensive history with a lot of detail about how ETA was formed, what its' modern-day focus is, and how the emerging European nation affects the Basques. While there is a sense of pointless violence that one gets from the infrequesnt Basque terrorist actions, I was stunned to realize how closely Franco came to obliterating their culture. Consider that the ban on speaking Basque was in force for so many decades that current generations of Basques are having to learn their native language as a second language.
It would seem hard for such a specialized book to leave anything out. However, the history of Basques in America is left out as well as their stoic nature. I learned a long time ago about Basques who specialized in sheepherding in the American West. They were uniquely qualified to take herds of sheep to remote areas and live alone for 6-12 months at a time. Most of the rest of us would go nuts in such solitary confinement. Well. I quess that's a minor point missing from an encyclopedia of information. This was an enjoyable book to read.
Reading in situ at the Guggenheim, Bilbao May 25, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This very readable book will greatly enhance a visit to the Guggenheim in Bilbao and touring in the surrounding area. The Basque region is geographically and culturally very different from the rest of Spain. Much of it's history is unknown to the ordinary traveller history buff. Kurlansky's book will be a pleasure to have along.
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