Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World

by Brian M. Fagan

What gave Christopher Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean? Fish on Friday tells the story of the discovery of America as a 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. A fascinating and multifaceted book, Fish on Friday will intrigue everyone who wonders how the vast forces of climate, culture, and technology conspire to create the history we know.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Food, Religion, Microhistory, Food and Drink, Medieval

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Brian Murray Fagan was a British author of popular archaeology books and a professor emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Reviews

[Wren · Rating 3 out of 5]

There certainly is a heck of a lot of information about fish in this book, and most of it is very interesting. The author clearly knows his subject, I'm just not sure he knows what his point is. Sometimes it seems like he's trying to prove that fisherman discovered the 'New World'; if that's what he was trying to do, he doesn't succeed. I think this could have been a really good book if it just set out to demonstrate the importance of fisheries at various points in the development of Western society, instead of repeatedly promising some grand argument that it never delivered. It was still a fairly good book, but it lacked structure and I found that frustrating in spots.

[southernmyst · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating tour of parts of history I'd never considered before, let alone known.

This book was a gift some years ago and sat on my bookshelf for far too long. I picked it up recently, not knowing what to expect, and was treated to something completely random and unexpected, unlike anything else I've read, at least in a long time.

It felt a bit like a dissertation and was hard going at times. Other times the story picked up, and it was easy reading. At every sitting, I learned something. The discussion of weather patterns, climate change (the Little Ice Age, for example), and more, are current concerns. I learned a lot about fishing, boats, and the sea! I also learned how influential the church's commands were in shaping commerce. Coming from knowing nothing about these subjects, Fagan did a great job explaining, so it was always interesting (not dumbed-down) without assuming knowledge I did not have. So much fascinating learning from this book.

The recipes scattered throughout were okay but didn't add much to the book. The intros to some of them were incredibly illuminating, though. I thought from the front matter that these would be historical recipes, but many seemed to be modern recipes. Several recipes were frightening.

I agree with the other reviewers who said the book lacked cohesion. It felt like an info dump of everything the author knew about fishing, commerce, etc. A fascinating, informative info dump, but still an unframed, poorly structured one. As such, I highly recommend it to anyone else willing to pick it up without preconceived notions of what might be inside (which might be tricky if you've read this far) and take it as an interesting collection of facts and some stories. If you're looking for a specific thesis, this is probably not the book for you.

[Gerry Connolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Fagan’s Fish on Friday is a fascinating chronicle of the centrality of fish consumption to the development of the West. From ancient Roman fish farms and their ubiquitous garum fish sauce to medieval herring catches to the ultimate fish stock of cod Fagan expounds on the kinds of boats that were deployed by the Vikings and early explorers to the salting, drying and preservation techniques. Arduous and dangerous work around the North Sea and Iceland demand ultimately took fishers to Newfoundland and the Grand Banks and Cape Cod(named after the abundant high quality fish). It was the search for fish stocks that led to the discovery of the New World and the ever growing demand for fish especially in Catholic meatless Southern European lands. Fascinating take on history.

[Alex Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate having learned about the history of fishing and trade that naturally led to the age of exploration. Thankfully I was never taught that era through the great man lens, I never though Columbus was some magical leader who made history independent of larger societal trends, but I never knew specifics about the innovations in boat technology driven by catholic rules about fasting. And vikings.
The author is an expert on boat stuff. He can spend multiple pages describing how different boats were made, which I did not enjoy and which felt like half the book, but that's just my personal lack of interest.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful information on some topics (fishing patterns, economic and social place of fish consumption) but more than I ever wanted to know about how to salt fish. Some may enjoy (even cook) the recipes, but they didn't add much to the historical argument. Fagan clearly loves sailing and fishing; if you share that love, you may love this book too; otherwise, perhaps a little too much of a good thing.

Regarding the author's overall argument about the importance of fishermen in developing knowledge of North Atlantic sailing and the eventual settlement of the Americas, he makes his point (though not as expansively as suggested in the introduction).

[Stephen Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter was pretty interesting - I'm all into obscure historical topics, so this could have been a wonderful book. However, the execution seemed half-hearted.

The book jumped back and forth chronologically and topically, and the treatment of ancient Christianity hardly did it justice. Sentences and paragraphs were often repetitive or ended abruptly with no transition to the next chapter. There were recipes scattered throughout the book, which was interesting...but the author said don't bother trying half of them!

[Amanda Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read, with the author saying that America was founded on the pursuit of fish. Covers the timeline from the days of Christ and ending with the Pilgrim Fathers.

[Homer H Blass · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author shows how the growing demand for cheap and edible fish on a mass scale for the urban poor and the growing armies and navies of Europe perhaps was more important than spices; gold and silver in pushing European ships across the Atlantic and opening up "the age of exploration".One bit of irony is that without the discovery and production of dried cod which provided a guaranteed minimum food supply for the sailors on transatlantic voyages; the transatlantic voyages to the Grand Banks of New England and Canada which provided sufficient fish for the European poor and the European armys and navys would not have been possible. Without dried cod and pickled herring there would have been no urban growth; large fishing leets, and large professional military establishments. And without the large fishing fleets there would have never been the necessary manpower for naval expansion and naval wars of early modern Europe buiding to the climax at Trafalgar. The Royal Navy and the British Empire's development depended upon stockfish(dried cod); hard tack; and lime juice. Both of the former were both virtually indestructable and unedible.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a really fascinating example of material history, Fagan charts how the search for, production, and preservation of fish has shaped European history and expansion. Much of the book focuses on either the religious importance of fish as a fasting food, or how fishing spurred new technological developments and exploration. Fagan also chronicles the highs and lows of different important fisheries and fish-trading ports from the fall of the Roman empire through the modern period, discussing how and why trade shifted between various regions. While the bulk of his interest is centered in England, this book also devotes a significant amount of space to Norse fisherfolk, who really set the pattern for the herring and later cod fishing industries. Ultimately, I think the implicit thesis here is that fish is one of the most important commodities to shape modern Europe, despite being something rarely theorized or fully appreciated.

[Jenifer Hanen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first part of this book was good, but half way through Brian Fagan lost sight of where he was going and the last 2-3 chapters were an effort to finish. It was as if he lost interest in the subject by the time he hit 1100AD and from that point the author was unable to stay on a subject or narrative track that kept the reader involved. Very poor finish.

This is sad, as I was very excited to read this book. Mark Kurlansky's "Cod", though sniped at several times by Fagan in "Fish on Friday, was a much stronger story about nearly the same subject - The North Atlantic fishery and how it influenced the progress of European history.

It was a real shame that "Fish on Friday" was not a better book, as it had quite a lot of potential.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that I liked the idea of this book more than the book itself. "Fish on Friday" is a decent popular history, which argues that the many "nameless" European fishermen of the Middle Ages and after were the "advance guard of European expansion." While the book is certainly not sophisticated in its argument and would benefit from better organization, Fagan does give a good sense of the some of the folkways and folk knowledge of European fishing. The decision to include historical fish recipes was also inspired. A decent summer read.

[Coleen Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is clearly and interesting theory. The increasing number of feast and fast days casing the fishermen around Europe to sail farther west for more lucrative fishing grounds leads to the discovery of North America. However, I learned a little too much about ship building and where fish migration. I know it all had a point in the story but sometimes there was just too much detail which made the read a little dry.

[Margo Brooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment. Brian Fagan is usually a clear and entertaining writer who makes history and science read like a story, but this book I found to be disorganized, repetative, and difficult to follow. Peppered with odd tidbits about his own travels, I found that I was not getting either the information or the entertainment I was hoping for with this book. I read about two thirds but I just could not finish.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book dares to go where Kurlansky's "Cod" didn't -- deep into the history of the relationship between fish and the featherless bipeds who stalk and eat them. For some reason the book makes a large, large detour in the middle to talk about boat design without ever exactly explaining why, but the rest of the book borders on fascinating, covering pisciculture, the medieval love of Eels and Carp, and more than a few recipes.

[Caty Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even better than Cod, Mark Kurlansky's book...this fascinating history of the atlantic fishery and trade systems driven by religion, greed and the tenacity of individuals, not the story of a few famous people (Columbus and Cabot) but of many forgotten, the geography of the atlantic and the pursuit and development of fishing systems and expansion into north america.

[Bayou des Cannes Cajun · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of info and presented in a..."oh how droll sort of way....". The absolute cure for insomnia.... fascinating read...if you are the bibliophile that simply treads on and on and on...with a stiff upper lip and a strong cup of tea. ..you will need it for this one.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

I was expecting something more general - my bad for not paying attention. :)