Fish on Friday : feasting, fasting, and the discovery of the New World / Brian Fagan
by Fagan, Brian M
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Galway, Ireland
4 Copies Available from This Seller
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About This Item
New York : Basic Books, 2006. First Edition. Hardback. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dw. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered.; 8vo 8"" - 9"" tall; 338 pages; From the world's leading writer on archaeology, a new theory of how climate, technology and the rituals of the medieval Christian Church are combined to bring Europeans to the New World. What gave Christopher Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean? What persuaded the king and queen of Spain to commission the voyage? It would be convenient to believe that Columbus and his men were uniquely courageous. A more reasonable explanation, however, is that Columbus was heir to a body of knowledge about seas and ships acquired at great cost over many centuries. ""Fish on Friday"" tells a new story of the discovery of America. In Brian Fagan's view, that discovery is the product of the long sweep of history: the spread of Christianity and the radical cultural changes it brought to Europe, the interaction of economic necessity with a changing climate, and generations of unknown fishermen who explored the North Atlantic in the centuries before Columbus. The Church's tradition of not eating meats on holy days created a vast market for fish that could not be fully satisfied by fish farms, better boats, or new preservation techniques. Then, when climate change in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries diminished fish stocks off Norway and Iceland, fishermen were forced to range ever farther to the west - eventually discovering incredibly rich shoals within sight of the Nova Scotia coast. In Ireland in 1490, Columbus could well have heard about this unknown land. The rest is history. Physical description: xxv, 338 p. : ill., maps ; 21 cm. Subjects: Fishes -- Religious aspects -- History. Climatic changes -- History. Fisheries -- North America -- History.
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Details
- Bookseller
- MW Books Ltd. (IE)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 220621
- Title
- Fish on Friday : feasting, fasting, and the discovery of the New World / Brian Fagan
- Author
- Fagan, Brian M
- Format/Binding
- Hardback
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 4
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- New York : Basic Books
- Date Published
- 2006
Terms of Sale
MW Books Ltd.
Returns accepted within 10 days of receipt if you are unsatisfied with either our description of, or the book itself.
About the Seller
MW Books Ltd.
Biblio member since 2005
Galway
About MW Books Ltd.
MW Books is an academic and antiquarian bookshop with a large stock in core areas such as Early Travel & Exploration, Nineteenth Century Literature, Early Political Economy, Labour and Social History, and Asian and Colonial History. Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions or comments regarding any item listed.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...