DOC ↠ The Basue History of the World The Story of a Nation ´ Mark Kurlansky
Rts to commerce Even today the Basues are enjoying what may be the most important cultural renaissance in their long existenceMark Kurlansky's passion for the Basue people and his exuberant eye for detail shine throughout this fascinating book Like Cod The Basue History of the Worldblends human stories with economic political literary and culinary history into a rich and heroic taleAmong the Basues' greatest accomplishmentsExploration the first man to circumnavigate the globe Juan Sebastian de Elcano was a Basue and the Basues were the second Europeans after the Vikings in North America Gastronomy and agriculture they were the first Europeans to eat corn and chili peppers 35 StarAn objective comprehensive yet simplified history of Basue from its beginning to the end of the 20th century I enjoy the easy conversational narrative style the author writes in Further I feel like the author doesn’t try to gloss over or make up excuses for some of the horrific acts perpetrated by the militant ETA who attempted to gain a Basue independence through violence despite indicating his strong sympathy toward the ultimate goals of the Basue people However I also feel like it’s a rather superficial overview of the Basue history Perhaps it’s the difficulty of trying to write a comprehensive yet concise overview of any subject In this book I feel like despite the numerous interesting historical figures who played significant roles in the history of the conflicts between the Basues and the Spanish I don’t think I remember any of the crucial player or perhaps that’s just my weak memory I just feel like the author doesn’t spend sufficient time to focus on those important figures Further the author also likes to jump to a different year and scenes before redoubling back to the initial subject or figure As a result sometimes the book feels confusing and disorganized Also I wish there were an updated version considering that it’s first published over 20 years ago I’m sure there have been a few interesting and significant changes By the way my interest in this subject is not particularly deep I first heard the term “Basue” from Athletic Bilbao in the game Football Manager All I knew was that the club exclusively recruited still do Basue players I’d also heard of the separatist movements trying to gain independence for Basue as a nation Overall this is a pretty good book to start with if you’re interested in this particular subject and if you didn’t know anything at all just like I was
Mark Kurlansky ´ The Basue History of the World The Story of a Nation PDF
The Basue History of the World The Story of a NationFrom Mark Kurlansky the bestselling author of History of PDF #10003 Cod Salt and The Basue eBook #204 Birdseye the illuminating story of an ancient and enigmatic peopleStraddling a small Basue History of PDFEPUB #234 corner of Spain and France in a land that is marked Basue History of the World eBook #204 on no maps except their own the Basues are a puzzling contradiction they are Europe's oldest nation without ever having been a country No one has ever been able to determine their origins and even the Basues' language Euskera the most ancient in Europe is related to none other on earth For centuries their influence has been felt in nearly every realm from religion to spo Looking back on reading this one I'm most fascinated by the fact that the author while slightly in awe of the legend of the Basue people is in no way afraid to show the ugly sides to their history as well I think most people who are interested regard the Basues as the eternal heroic outsiders But this book doesn't shy away from showing how often and how easily racism and anti semitism can arise in areas of strong nationalist identity The Basues share with the Celts the privilege of indulging in unrivaled extravagance on the subject of themselves was a uote from 1884 that was included in the book and gave me a bit of a wry laugh But like I said while he does poke fun at the Basue myth he also believes in it deep down and why wouldn't he The story he tells from prehistory to the present day ordinary people he meets while researching show a facinating people who seem full of contradictions; distrustful of outsiders yet imminently hospitable taciturn yet full of warmth and always ready to sing inward looking but also some of the greatest adventurers and seafarers the world has seen and later pioneering businessmen when capitalism was embryonic I did buy this book on holiday in Bilbao so it gets extra goodwill point for that but as a history book it's definitely up there with the really good ones I've read One thing the author deals with really well is unlike the early Basue nationalists he doesn't try to create a simple narrative in the evolution of Basue politics This was unusual for me to read because historians naturally enough I suppose like to tell a story which makes sense and has a clear sensible outcome This guy is a fisherman than a historian from what I gather and he tells the history of the wars and politics of the Basue country with all its twists and turns and strong opposing loyalties in a way that I feel gave me a better appreciation of the seeming contradictions of the modern day Basue political scene that I think an author looking for a clear cut narrative would not have How did a people and country renowned for being extremely religious come to be a place palpably leftwing than any place else I've been Many people in the history of the Basue country were staunchly royalist and this might seem counter intuitive to a modern politics tourist such as myself The reasons for all this are clear when you see where the various loyalties the country had got them or rather didn't get them in the long centuries that they've been struggling for self determination The Catholic church the monarchy the Carlists the liberals the anti Francoists and even though it came close the alliance in WWII none of them secured the Basues their self determination In the end gun toting revolutionariesterrorists take your pick could not do so either It's hard to know where the struggle goes next To paraphrase the author in a 100 or maybe even 1000 years there may not be a France or a Spain but there will still be Basues Anyway the book is also peppered throughout with recipes which I thought was delightful and history writers should take a leaf out of that particular book