The Basque History of the World

Written by Mark Kurlansky

Narrated by George Guidall

Award-winning author Mark Kurlansky has drawn enthusiastic praise for his books, which are sharply-focused studies as well as glorious celebrations of their subjects. In The Basque History of the World, he turns his eye toward Europe's oldest surviving culture-a culture as mysterious as it is fascinating. Settled in the western Pyrenees Mountains of France and Spain, the Basque nation is not drawn on maps and the origin of their forbidden language has never been discovered. Yet, Basques appear to predate all other cultures in Europe, with many significant global contributions to their credit. Most notably, one of their own took command after Magellan's death and was the first person to circumnavigate the globe. This informative book is full of lively anecdotes that illuminate an otherwise obscure culture. Narrator George Guidall rises to the challenge of the text, which includes many Basque terms, and interprets beautifully.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 22, 2011
• ISBN: 9781461811077

Mark Kurlansky

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Milk!, Havana, Paper, The Big Oyster, 1968, Salt, The Basque History of the World, Cod, and Salmon, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appétit's Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He lives in New York City. www.markkurlansky.com

Reviews for The Basque History of the World

[martin sensiper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book is not a history of the Basque world exactly. It is exactly the Basque history of the world. Since the title explained the outlook, it was interesting to see the history of a unique culture from its own point of view. He gave me a better understanding of the points of view of other books about the same region.

[Karrah Darling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting of a mysterious group. I think a second edition needs to bring the story to modern day.