Mark Kurlansky

El bacalao. Por él se han librado guerras y han estallado revoluciones, en él se ha basado la dieta de varias naciones, de él han dependido economías y subsistencias, él impulsó la colonización de Norteamerica. Para millones de personas que han vivido gracias a el, ha sido un tesoro mas preciado que el oro. Y, en efecto, el bacalao ha desempeñado un papel fascinante y crucial en la historia del mundo. Mark Kurlansky repasa la historia de los exploradores, comerciantes, escritores, chefs y pescadores cuyas vidas han ido entrelazadas a la de este prolifico animal, y adorna este relato de pasiones humanas con detalles gastronomicos en los que mezcla recetas y consejos culinarios desde la Edad Media hasta nuestros dias; y, ademas, nos expone la vida del animal: su personalidad, sus costumbres, su amplia familia y, en ultima instancia, la tragedia de que el pescado mas provechoso de la historia se enfrente hoy al peligro de su extincion.

"La primera pista, lliçó número u de la història humana sobre el tema de la noviolència, és que no hi ha cap terme per designar-la". El llibre de Mark Kurlansky ens mostra, però, que sempre hi ha hag

Homer called it a divine substance Plato described it as especially dear to the gods As Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates here salt has shaped civilisation from the beginning and its story is a glittering often surprising part of the history of mankind Wars have been fought over salt and while salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia they have also inspired revolution Gandhi s salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India From the rural Sichuan province where the last home made soya sauce is produced to the Cheshire brine springs that supplied salt around the globe Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of world history a multi layered masterpiece that blends political commercial scientific religious and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale

Given its broad and vibrant subject, it would be quite difficult for a writer of any proficiency to pen a boring book on 1968, and Mark Kurlansky has indeed pulled together an entertaining and enlightening popular history with 1968: The Year That Rocked the World. With the Vietnam War and Soviet repression providing sparkplugs in the East and West, student movements heated up in Berkeley, Prague, Mexico City, Paris, and dozens of other hotspots. With youth in ascendancy, music, film, and athletics became generational battlegrounds between opposition forces that couldn''t be more appalled with one another. Not so fortuitously, the Summer Olympics in Mexico City and a presidential election in the United States conspired to elevate the tension higher as months passed. Kurlansky is skilled at concisely capturing the personalities behind the conflicts, whether they be heartbroken Czech leader Alexander Dubcek as Eastern Bloc troops violently suppress his nation''s uprising or respected veteran newsman Walter Cronkite reluctantly editorializing against the war in Vietnam. The author is more than willing to choose heroes (the doomed Robert Kennedy) and villains (victorious presidential candidate Richard Nixon), and clearly sides with the rebels in most cases. In general, Kurlansky is more adept at covering the political front than he is the equally revolutionary arts world, and it''s apparent that any chapter in this book could be expanded into a book of its own. One''s expectation is that captivated readers will view 1968 as a portal into a deeper exploration of a fascinating time. --Steven Stolder

It's the boom years of the 1980s, and life is closing in on Nathan Seltzer, who rarely travels outside his suddenly gentrifying Lower East Side neighbourhood. In between paralyzing bouts of claustrophobia, Nathan wonders whether he should cheat on his wife with Karoline, a German pastry maker whose parents may or may not have been Nazis. His father, Harry, is plotting with the 1960s boogaloo star Chow Mein Vega for the comeback of this dance craze. Meanwhile, a homicidal drug addict is terrorizing the neighbourhood. With its ensemble cast of unforgettable characters, Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue is a comedy of cultures about the old and the new, about Latinos, Jews, Sicilians and Germans. It's about struggling to hold onto life in a rapidly changing world, about food and sex and about how our lives are shaped by love and guilt.

It was the year of sex and drugs and rock and roll; it was also the year of the Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy assassinations, Prague Spring, the Chicago convention, the anti-war movement and the Tet Offensive, the student rebellion that paralyzed France, Civil Rights, the generation gap, the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union, and the birth of the women''s movement. With 1968: The Year that Rocked the World, award-winning journalist Mark Kurlansky has written his magnum opus-a cultural and political history of that world-changing year of social upheaval, when television''s impact on global events first became apparent, and where simultaneously, in Paris, Prague, London, Berkeley, Chicago, New York and all over the globe uprisings spontaneously occurred. 1968 encompasses the worlds of youth and music, politics, war, economics, assassinations, riots, and demonstrations-and the media, and shows us how we got to where we are today. 1968 is destined to be Mark Kurlansky''s most important and most fascinating book yet.

The conventional history of nations, even continents, is a history of warfare. According to this view, all the important ideas and significant changes of humankind were put forward in an effort to win one violent bloody conflict or another.This approach to history is only one of many examples of how societies promote warfare and glorify violence. But there have always been a few who have refused to fight. Governments have long regarded this minority as a danger to society and have imprisoned and abused them and encouraged their persecution.This was true of those who refused Europe's wars, who refused to fight for their king, who refused to fight for Napoleon as well as against him. It was true of Virginia Woolf's sister Vanessa and her husband Clive Bell - outcasts in rural Sussex because they opposed World War I at a time when the British socialist movement described a bayonet as a weapon with a worker on each end.It was true of the first American draft dodger, a Menonite who believed in American independence but believed it was wrong to use violence and rejected the call of his local militia. It was true of the many abolitionists who had dedicated their lives to stopping slavery but refused to fight in the Civil War.Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and, most impressively, the Menonites and the Quakers - all have passages in their major teachings rejecting warfare as immoral. In this brilliant exploration of pacifism, these points of view are discussed alongside such diverse non-violence theorists as Tolstoy, Shelley, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Aldous Huxley, Erasmus, Confucius and Lao Tse to show how many modern ideas - such as a united Europe, the United Nations, and the abolition of slavery - originated in such non-violence movements.

La historia vasca del mundo es el esclarecedor relato de un pueblo antiguo y enigmático. A pesar de su origen oscuro y de tener una población reducida, los vascos han tenido una profunda influencia en Europa y el mundo a lo largo de mas de dos mil años. Han combinado siempre la fidelidad a la propia tradicion con una amplitud de miras universal: preservando su sistema legal autonomo, la cocina, la literatura y hasta la indumentaria, se han esforzado sin complejos por ser la avanzadilla del mundo. La pasion de Mark Kurlansky por los vascos y su mirada minuciosa y penetrante han permitido construir este gran fresco que combina el relato de las vidas humanas con la historia economica, politica, literaria y culinaria de esta pueblo, que actualmente vive un

WINNER OF THE JOHN AVERY AWARD AT THE ANDRÉ SIMON AWARDSIf we can save the salmon, we can save the worldOver the centuries, salmon have been a vital resource, a dietary staple and an irresistible catch. But there is so much more to this extraordinary fish.As international bestseller Mark Kurlansky reveals, salmon persist as a barometer for the health of our planet. Centuries of our greatest assaults on nature can be seen in their harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle.Full of all Kurlanskys characteristic curiosity and insight, Salmon is a magisterial history of a wondrous creature.An epic, environmental tragedy SpectatorThese creatures have nurtured our imagination as surely as our bodies. This book does them justice! Bill McKibben

A história se desenrola na movimentada Manhattan dos anos 1970, onde a culinária vai além do simples ato de comer e revela o status social dos habitantes. Entre as sobremesas mais apreciadas estão o

All-new stories about the urban worlds where animals and humans fight, love, and find common ground, from the nationally bestselling author of Cod and Salt. In these stories, Mark Kurlansky journeys to his familiar haunts like New Yorks Central Park or Miamis Little Havana but with an original, earthy, and adventurous perspective. From baseball players in the Dominican Republic to Basque separatists in Spain to a restaurant owner in Cuba, from urban coyotes to a murder of crows, Kurlansky travels the worlds of animals and their human counterparts, revealing moving and hilarious truths about our connected existence. In the end, he illuminates how closely our worlds are aligned, how humans really are beasts, susceptible to their basest instincts, their wildest dreams, and their artful survival.

Can a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William Mickey Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote Dancing in the Street. The song was recorded at Motowns Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recordinga precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture.The Beatles had landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, Dancing in the Street gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed.Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, Ready for a Brand New Beat chronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.

Nonfiction for kids interested in science, biography, and early entrepreneurs, this work explores the life story of Clarence Birdseye, the man who revolutionized the frozen food industry and changed the way people eat all over the world. Adapted from Mark Kurlanskys adult work Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man. Adventurer and inventor Clarence Birdseye had a fascination with food preservation that led him to develop and patent the Birdseye freezing process and start the company that still bears his name today. His limitless curiosity spurred his other inventions, including the electric sunlamp, an improved incandescent lightbulb, and a harpoon gun to tag finback whales. This true story of an early inventor/entrepreneur is not only thrilling but also explains the science and early technology behind food preservation. Simultaneously available in a hardcover and trade paperback edition. Each edition includes an 8-page black-and-white photo insert.