Rating: 
Summary: A good read spoilt
Review: This could have been a very nice book indeed, and so I hoped having throughly enjoyed "Cod" While the author suceeds in giving a sense of basque history and culture (specially good are chapters on fishing, whaling and food), the book is seriously spoilt by its badly substantiated political intent. I doubt not that the writer has as good a knowledge of the basque country as the next foreigner, and his unaccuracy just goes to show how complex the basque situation is. As someone who was born, bred and grown in the Basque Country (not a "basque" as I have no basque name and don't speak the language) I was dismayed at some of the affirmations of the book and some of the serious omissions, as mentioned by other readers. I love basque history and culture, and above all I love basque people. They deserve better than this. It is evident that this book was writen with love too. But the result is simply wrong: it glorifies the actions of a bunch of cruel assassins whom are hated by the majority of the basques. A very irresponsible thing to do.
Rating: 
Summary: A book for historical survival
Review: Mark Kurlansky, author of 'The Basque History of the World' (Jonathan Cape; 1999) presents one of the most accomplished books on Basque history ever written in English. Kurlansky blends human stories with cultural, political and culinary history. He, like many other authors is attracted by the challenge of the survival of this small country throughout thousands of years.
Kurlansky reveals a different point of view on the Basque people, far from the stereotypes imposed by many modern journalists. The author, as a journalist himself, highlights the Basque's outstanding impact on Europe's historical evolution. "No word less describes Basques than the term separatist...Considering how small a group the Basques are, they have made remarkable contributions to world history", Kurlansky adds.
The modern Basque Country represents a human group constituted by hardly three million people lost in the swarms of the great human
crowds.
A significant fact of the Basque Country is the tenacity for the historical survival, its touch of distinction for the cultural creation, and its collective memory for the development of a social identity. While the world has entered into the Third Millennium, over 650,000 people are speaking a language, Euskera, whose roots can be found in the Stone Age (6,000BC). The Basque sociologist Ruiz de Olabuenaga argues that "something that had defined and is still defining men and women of the Basque society is the conviction that we ourselves must create our own future and that the excellence of the history of this country can be lost. We are a small country but solid, intense, passionate between the unconditional fidelity to our tradition and the
maximum compromise to the ambiguity of the future".
Kurlansky summarizes the aspiration of the Basque people for such historical survival in the final sentence of his book: 'Garean gareana legez' - 'Let us be what we are' - (from Esteban de Garibay, Basque Historian, XVIthC).
P. J. Oiarzabal, Historian
Reno, Nevada, September 2001
Rating:
Summary: Despite flaws this is a good book
Review: Despite the fact this this is popular history this is a good read. Few books detail the Basques or their unique history and even fewer books are as illuminating as this one. From short histories of whaling to the birth of the Jesuit missionaries and other things this read is like a scroll of history. From detailing the odd and confounded Carlist wars to the Basque support of Republicanism, although they had nothing in common with the radical communists, and of course the modern issue of the ETA and the suppression of the Basques under Franco, this book seems to do it all. Immensely informative while not always willing to make judgment calls this book is still a must read. On par with other wonderful works like 1968 and 'The Chosen Few' this book also has great chapters on Basque food and the Basque language. Anyone will enjoy this book. The expert Spanish historian may have qualms with the authors slight bias but nevertheless this wide span of this book out-ways any criticism. Seth J. Frantzman
Rating:
Summary: A good read spoilt
Review: This could have been a very nice book indeed, and so I hoped having throughly enjoyed "Cod" While the author suceeds in giving a sense of basque history and culture (specially good are chapters on fishing, whaling and food), the book is seriously spoilt by its badly substantiated political intent. I doubt not that the writer has as good a knowledge of the basque country as the next foreigner, and his unaccuracy just goes to show how complex the basque situation is. As someone who was born, bred and grown in the Basque Country (not a "basque" as I have no basque name and don't speak the language) I was dismayed at some of the affirmations of the book and some of the serious omissions, as mentioned by other readers. I love basque history and culture, and above all I love basque people. They deserve better than this. It is evident that this book was writen with love too. But the result is simply wrong: it glorifies the actions of a bunch of cruel assassins whom are hated by the majority of the basques. A very irresponsible thing to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Misnamed, Fascinating Book, Great for Spanish History Buffs
Review: The most important facet of this book on the Basques is that it finally offers something new and daring to those of us who are somewhat familiar with the general facts on the subject of Basque history and politics. This was very much what I expected after reading the book's title, which makes it sound as if it were about how Basques have perceived world events and culture. Au contraire, the title is merely an attempt to attract readers, and in all truthfulness the book is actually a "History of the Basque World" . Despite this criticism of little importance, I laud the book because here in Spain we are inundated with two extremist viewpoints on Basque issues: that of the most fanatical Basques who favor terrorism and independence, and that of the Spanish mainstream, which gives lip service to Basque autonomy and culture but then rails anything that has to do with the Basques (the usual madrileño or andalusian will opine "let them have their autonomy" and "it just disgusts me when they speak their caveman tongue" in the same conversation). Perhaps the forte of the book is that it is written by neither a Basque nor a (non-Basque) Spaniard, affording the author a somewhat more distant, less passionate viewpoint that allows him to relate historical events with much less of an ideological tint. And I found that he did so brilliantly and in an entertaining style, providing an interesting bookful of information to both those who know about the Basque Country and others who are being introduced to the topic for the first time, including the basic history of the region, local politics, culture, language, cuisine, current events, customs and relations with neighbors. You may criticize that he is "sympathetic" to the Basque cause (whatever you define that to be), but if he were not, then why would he have written a such an excellent book on the topic? He certainly shows no sympathy or support of any kind for terrorists, which is the only important factor in making his opinions as valid as anyone else's, and he certainly argues all of his points intelligently.
Rating: 
Summary: Generally informative but take with a rock of salt
Review: Just like any other book, this one has its ups and downs. Unfortunately the downs seem to prevail in the overall picture. The "history" of the Basques is confusingly unsystematic, often not following the chronological sequence of events, and completely lost on the point of what is worth accenting and elaborating upon and what not (if you found the last sentence a bit disorderly, you already have an impression of what I mean.) Even though the author never added the ambitious "complete" to the title - maybe to avoid the obvious criticism that the text is far from exhaustive - he could have avoided a few dozens of the personal stories peppering this Basque pot. "Putting a human face" to history can not only be misleading, but can be politically dangerous especially when it shares covers with chapters on ETA and the government in Madrid. Mark Kurlansky seems humble enough never to make open statements on issues like globalization, nation versus state, ethnicity, culture, autonomy, and sovereignty, but leads the reader far enough to spell his opinions in evey blank space of the pages.
The ups come from the leisurely style of the writing, the variety of selected materials (also a down of course), but most of all from the fact that there are not even ten pounds (weightwise, not British quid) worth of books on the topic available to the English speaker.
Recommended to the curious and indiscriminate.
Rating:
Summary: Very enjoyable introduction to lesser known subject...
Review: The Basques certainly deserve their own history, even if this retelling is highly subjective and not objectively historical. Kurlansky seems more in the business of giving clues to the Basque world without spelling everything out. The importance of home or "etxea" in the Basque mindset is explained, as are the resurgences of Basque languages (there seems to be more than one,) and nationalism. The devolution of some aspect of that nationalism into pure violence, and the terrorism of the ETA, is not developed. But the Basque identities of historical figures like Saint Ignatius Loyola and the writer Miguel De Unamuno are satisfyingly explained, as are the differences between later Basque leaders like Sabino Arano, and the chief executive in exile during WWII, Aguirre. Beyond that it's a bit of a hodge-podge, going from the development of Basque trade and industry with the Americas, the creation of the dish "pil-pil," the roots of Basque theology, and the significance of Guernica both as the center of Basque identity and as the victim of the staggering attack by Franco during the Spanish Civil War. And of course, the other reviewer is right. Ferdinand and Isabella had several children, the most significant of which are Juana La Loca and Katherine of Aragon who was the unfortunate first wife of England's Henry VIII. Kurlansky got that wrong, but I assumed he was oversimplifying.
Rating:
Summary: Romantic history
Review: I spent about 4 years in the Basque Country (Donostia and Deba). While Mr. Kurlansky has gotten all the little anecdotes right and places Ignatius of Loyola , Elcano, Unamuno and
Pio Baroja in their rightful place as towering figures of Western
Culture and true universalists, this book is severely maimed by a
romanticized and unreal vision of the land it portrays. Especially
when it comes to gloss over the violent tactics of groups such as E.T.A. and others . This group had its moment and its justification but not anymore. Not to advocate terrorism, kill bystanders and use blackmail and extortion. The author misses completely the irony of these groups advocating nationalism, racism and violence (fascism) to promote their agenda. Hitler was just as romantic. It also misses the true "novelty" of the Basques as a nation and Euzkera as a language. The intentions of the Spanish government are always dubious while the "victim" murderers have only the common interest and progress in their mind . In short. his portrait is extremely biased and only one side
of the story. .......
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting and Informative Reading
Review: I bought this book based on the quality of Mark Kurlansky's other works. As with his other books, Mark does a very thorough and effective job of bringing to light much little known information about a somewhat obscure topic, and actually makes it interesting to read. While this book is slightly difficult to read due to the abundance of Basque words, I still enjoyed it immensely and feel that it is worth the effort. The Basque truly are a unique and noble people with many things to teach the rest of the world. A nation within a nation, Basqueland is separated from its neighbors not by geographical or political boundaries, but by cultural boundaries, which is most likely the biggest reason why the improbable Basque nation is still in existence today.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Historical Look at Northern Spain
Review: I was very interested in the Basque country after I learned that my family (ARMIJO) can be traced as early as the 13th Century to Laredo, Spain, a small resort beach town in the heart of Basque land. I learned a lot & reflected on a few customs that have been carried over in my family...for example, love of sardines & pride in my Spanish heritage. This was quite interesting to learn about the long history of the Basque people. It's amazing to realize that it is quite likely that the Basque people may very well be the first known Europeans.
I strongly recommend this for any one visiting Northern Spain, any historian interested in Europe &/or any one of Spanish ancestry. I recently (Oct. 2002) visited Laredo, Spain, Zaragoza, Spain (The Armijo Palace) and Biarritz, France...I felt at home and safe in these areas.
|
