The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation

Amazingly thorough, delightfully well written. Being of Basque lineage myself I'm always on the lookout for books and movies on the subject and having had quite a bit of experience with both I can say this book is by far the best at being easily digestible and all encompassing when it comes to everything Basque. Speaking of digestible Kurlansly even throws in Basque recipes which I think is one of the coolest ways to learn about a people by getting to know what they eat, and food seems to be his expertise based on some of his previous works and it shows but the book is complete with history I'm ashamed to say even I didnt know about. How such a broad and intricate subject fits into this little book is a testament to the authors talent and is clearly a love letter from him to everything basque. Wonderful read and I'm not big on leaving reviews but this one I couldn't resist...3 cheers for the author and for Euskal Herria!

Years ago I picked up a dark haired and swarthy faced hitch-hiker (from San Sebastian) in north-eastern Australia. We travelled together for several hundred miles and I have been curious about the Basques ever since! This little book is again, a superb read written by Mark Kurlansky. His love of these people (whose language is unique in the world) shines through every page and his impartial references to this most fascinating part of the world makes for such a detailed journey into the "surf zone" of south western Europe. Everytime an army moved in this part of the world the Basques got rolled again! But complain? No way! They were the first "Democracy" in the world, dating back almost to Tribal days and were involved in several wars. They fought a civil war in the 1930s after being removed from government by the right wing (read Fascist) establishment, attracting help and interest from all over the world! (Ernest Hemingway and many others wrote about this war. Some of these books have become classics). They were also a conduit for refugees and escapees from Nazi Europe during WWII. Shipbuilders and cross ocean fishermen, navigators and travellers for centuries, these forward thinking people brought many things to Europe that we use, even today! I enjoyed this book immensely and learned a few Basque words, to entertain myself with, along the way!!! Great read!

Why did the Basques, a tiny group of fewer than three million people, survive as a culture? This is implicitly the main question asked by Kurlansky's history of the Basques. (Incidentally, this is not really a Basque history of the world as much as it is a history of the Basque world -- though since the Basques got around a lot as sailors and whalers, its a good-sized world). Here's what I take to be the author's answers to that question: 1) Because they were relatively geographically isolated in an infertile part of the world with rugged landscapes that isolated them from surrounding peoples and even from one another -- small as the Basque region is, there are still seven different Basque dialects from different areas. A single written language did not emerge until the 20th century. 2) Because in the era of urbanization in Spain, mainly the late 19th and the 20th century, Basqueland became prosperous from industrialization and so the Basques did not have to migrate to the cities of other countries or other parts of Spain where they would have been assimilated. 3) Because they were persecuted by Franco and other Spanish rulers, which strengthened their tribal solidarity. 4) Because they were clannish and family-centered, due to a weak state apparatus that forced them to rely on one another and their community. 5) Because a common Catholic faith and a strong network of Basque-speaking parish priests held them together. But the argument can be made that the Basque culture has not really survived, if language is taken as the key defining element of a culture. The vast majority of Basques don't know how to speak Basque fluently and certainly don't speak it at home. When I traveled to that region this year, I sure didn't hear a lot of Basque spoken on the streets of San Sebastian or Pamplona or other Basque cities. In a century, will it still exist? I hope so, but I think it's a long shot that a language that has declined this far can be brought back to the mainstream -- no matter how much effort Basque authorities put into teaching it in schools and ensuring a steady stream of Basque language publications. We live in an age of the languages of small groups, especially those that don't have their own country, dying out at a brisk clip. Most of the languages spoken in the world today are not expected to exist by the end of this century. The book is a fascinating read, from the earliest historical times during the Roman era up to the present. The reach of the Basque people extended far, wherever their fishing boats and whaling ships and emigrants reached, and contributed very heavily to the exploration efforts of the Spanish during the age of the Spanish global empire. The author does a particularly good job, I thought, of explaining Basque nationalism, both its narrow-minded, nativist aspects and its rich cultural elements. The competing desires of different Basque groups drove them into taking sides during Spain's various civil wars of the 19th and 20th centuries that pitted them against both other parts of Spain and even against one another. Highly conservative, religious monarchists fighting on the side of the Carlist pretender to the throne during the civil wars of the 19th century clashed violently with more progressive Basques seeking greater autonomy for their homeland under a less centralized monarchy. Similarly, during the Civil War of the 1930s, some Basques such as those of Navarre allied with Franco because of his supposed devotion to the Church and to the monarchy, in opposition to the Spanish Republican government and to most of the rest of their fellow Basques, who were slaughtered by both Franco's well-armed troops and those of Mussolini and Hitler. Kurlansky tells a complicated story very well -- while not leaving out his favorite Basque recipes.

This book made my recent trip to Basque Country far more satisfactory than I thought it would be. Very hard to put down gives a reader the background of the culture and history of the ever fascinating Basque nation. A must read for those who (like me) had only basic knowledge on the subject from the guide books, or chapters in the Spanish or French history books that relate to the history of Basques. For advanced readers could be too basic. The biggest disadvantage is that after finishing it I got really eager to learn more about Basques and cannot find anything more detailed .... Written with a great sympathy for the Basque people.Highly recommended.

This all encompassing history of a small region of Europe I have never been to and have no reason to empathise with, managed to provide compelling reading. The book paints a picture of a violent and hard fought history of Basqueness with its rich oral Euskera language, the Basque legal Fueros system, its recipes and food and portraits of leading people. Though their land resides in three provinces of France and four of Spain, Basques have always insisted they have a country and they call it Euskadi. All the powerful peoples around them - the Celts and the Romans, the royal houses of Aquitaine, Navarra, Aragon and Castile; later the Spanish and French monarchies, dictatorships and republics - have tried to subdue and assimilate them and all have failed. The history is violent from the Inquisition's attempts in the 1600's to weed out Basque witches to the brutal and complicated nineteenth century Carlist civil wars, the French Revolution that set off not only Spaniards against Basques, but also Basques against Basques to Franco's civil war in the 20th century and then ETA. Whilst the Basques are united by language and identify with their family home, they are an outward looking, entrepreneurial people of traders, fishermen and whalers who prior to Columbus were fishing and whaling as far away as Norway and Newfoundland. They probably had settled in the US prior to Columbus 1488 "discovery" and certainly provided Columbus with many of the captains of his fleet that found their way there. The Basques were not only leading industrialists, with Bilbao pioneering steel making, but also the first modern bankers in Spain. Despite repeated invasions the Basques have maintained an identity with their Fueros law and their language. The Fueros was a remarkably progressive medieval law. Revised ion 1526 it was one of the first legal codes to outlaw the use of torture, ban debtors prison, protect citizens from arbitrary arrest and give women more consideration than most mediaval law - for example property rights. Basque cooking and cuisine is a recurring theme of the book with recipes described in great detail and examples of Basque cuisine, for example on how to cook an eel and avoiding slime secreted from its glands spoiling the dish by plunging it into warm water. Basque eels are exported all over the world. The promotion of the Basque language , Euskera, is the unifying factor and remains the first goal of the most nationalists. Franco tried to dilute it by drafting many non Basques into the Basque region but with the formation of ETA it became the defining factor of Basqueness. Traditionally an oral language with many dialects it was only in the 20th Century that it became a written language. Portraits of leading characters are drawn from Jenaro Pildain a master of the pil pil cod dish to nationalists such as Sabino Arana who in 1893 organised public demonstrations declaring Basque nationalism and the poets like Jose Antonio Aguirre A rich and thought provoking book.

Well done job

Mark Kurlansky’nin elinden çıkmış güzel bir eser.

Proof that history can be fun! I have really enjoyed every part of this book, and would call it a real page turner.

If your looking for a book on a Basque history and people, this is the one! Easy to read and interesting. Let me know if you find a better one!