{"product_id":"9781440672873","title":"Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn unexpected, energetic look at world history on sea and land from the  bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eSalt\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Basque History of the  World\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCod\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003c\/b\u003eMark Kurlansky’s third work of  nonfiction and winner of the 1999 James  Beard Award\u003cb\u003e,\u003c\/b\u003e is the  biography of a single species of fish, but it may as well be a world history  with this humble fish as its recurring main character. Cod, it turns out, is the  reason Europeans set sail across the Atlantic,  and it is the only reason they could. What did the Vikings eat in icy Greenland  and on the five expeditions to America recorded in the Icelandic  sagas? Cod, frozen and dried in the frosty air, then broken into pieces and  eaten like hardtack. What was the staple of the medieval diet? Cod again, sold  salted by the Basques, an enigmatic people with a mysterious, unlimited supply  of cod. As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a  delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of  depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were legendary. In this lovely,  thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that  changed the world forever changed by the world's  folly?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Every once in a while a  writer of particular skill takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns  out a book of pure delight. Such is the case of Mark Kurlansky and the codfish.”  –David McCullough, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Wright Brothers \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003e1776\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom the Trade Paperback edition.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Penguin Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47123751633136,"sku":"9781440672873","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781440672873_p0.jpg?v=1763786932","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781440672873","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}