Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky is a nonfiction book that shows how codfish have impacted human history. From revolutions, to wars, to the rise of whole economies, Mr. Kurlansky weaves an extraordinary tale of how the simple aquatic creature has changed the course of humanity. However he also looks at the bleaker side and sheds light on how human dependency has negatively influenced the fish. 

Pros

The book is written in a simplistic style that makes it easily understandable and avoids  the pitfall of being dense and a bore to read. I must really look up to the author for this as I can only imagine how much boring government documents and scientific studies he had to read through to obtain some of the information used. It’s organization is good with the first part of the book talking about cods impact on history, the second part showing the downfall of cod and the politics behind it, and the third part being more conservation focused. At the end there is even a section showing different codfish recipes throughout history which I thought was really neat. There are pictures and diagrams included that go along with the text and make certain points much easier to understand. Even if you are not familiar with the sea or how fishing is conducted in it, the author makes every effort to make it easy to understand. 

One of the diagrams in the book.

As I said before, the book is not boring and that is something I was worried about when I first picked it up, there are some slow moments but overall it is quite a compelling and interesting read. I never thought that such a humble fish could have an incredible backstory and after reading this book I found myself searching articles online to find more information about them. It is a book that elicits interest in a mundane yet important topic which is something I believe we need more of. 

Kurlansky is not just a writer but was a fisherman himself which I believe lends very well to his writing as he sees both points of view when it comes to the cods story. He understands that the fish is an economic resource that people want to exploit while also knowing that it must be preserved and limited in order to last. He has a well rounded point of view which I believe is needed when talking about nonfiction subjects such as this. 

Beginning of the section with different recipes.

Cons

The book does not have many cons as Kurlansky has a good writing style and has performed meticulous research on the subject. The two biggest issues to me were the lack of maps, which is something I complain about a good bit so take that as you will, and the lack of clear dating. There were a few times I would be reading and think the book was in the medieval period when come to find out later it was actually talking about the colonial period, this happened a few times and caused some confusion but I usually figured it out pretty quickly. I did not see any problems other than these two.  

Things to Know

This book was published in 1997 which I did not realize until I was towards the end and wondering why the author was using scientific data from the 1990s. I honestly thought this book was written in the late 2000s or early 2010s until I found that out. This does mean that some of the information, such as cod stock numbers and conservation ideas, are a bit dated but overall it is still extremely relevant to modern times. Obviously Kurlansky can not be blamed for this, though I do think it would be nice if he came out with an updated version containing a couple extra chapters about how conservation efforts have helped and how cod has continued to be a point of political contention. I know I would certainly buy it. 

Recommendation

Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky is a well written and fascinating book that truly is something special within the genre. If you’re interested in american history, european history, or natural history then I say definitely read it; if you’re just interested in general history and do not have a specific area of study I still say pick it up. The book sheds so much light on a subject that is massively and wrongfully overlooked. I would recommend this book to just about anyone and I hope more people pick it up and give it a read.