Mark Kurlansky is een gevierd auteur wiens werken internationale erkenning en bestsellerstatus hebben verworven. Zijn schrijven duikt in de diepgaande verbanden tussen schijnbaar gewone onderwerpen en de grote lijnen van de wereldgeschiedenis en -cultuur. Kurlansky bezit een onderscheidende verhalende stijl, waarin hij behendig ingewikkelde verhalen ontrafelt in alledaagse fenomenen. Hij is een meesterverteller die het buitengewone in het alledaagse onthult.
Exploring nonviolence as a proactive strategy for addressing social injustice and conflict, the narrative presents it as a powerful tool rather than just a mindset. The author argues for its effectiveness in challenging authority and promoting change, positioning nonviolence as a vital technique for activists seeking to confront and dismantle systemic issues. Through this lens, the book invites readers to reconsider traditional views on resistance and the role of nonviolent action in shaping societal progress.
The book explores the pervasive nature of big lies propagated by governments, politicians, and corporations throughout history. It highlights how these falsehoods manipulate public perception, distort scientific understanding, and rewrite historical narratives. By examining the consequences of such deception, the author argues that these lies hinder society's ability to confront pressing challenges and perpetuate injustices, ultimately destabilizing the world.
Exploring the historical significance of the cod, this book engages middle-grade readers with its blend of informative narrative and charming illustrations. The vivid ink drawings, enhanced with colorful washes, bring to life key moments, combining clarity with a sense of humor. Through its unique perspective, it highlights the cod's role in human history, making it both educational and entertaining for young audiences.
The conventional history of nations, even continents, is a history of warfare. According to this view, all the important ideas and significant changes of humankind were put forward in an effort to win one violent bloody conflict or another. But there have always been those who refused to fight. This book is about them
A tribute to a magnificent species whose cycles of life are entwined with every aspect of nature -- freshwater, saltwater, and land -- and whose survival is inextricably tied to the survival of the planet.
Combining elements of a treatise and a miscellany, this book offers a captivating exploration of various topics. Its engaging style ensures that readers are not only informed but also entertained throughout the journey. The unique blend of insightful commentary and diverse content makes it a compelling read for those seeking both knowledge and enjoyment.
In The Importance of Not Being Ernest, acclaimed journalist and New York Times
bestselling author Mark Kurlansky focuses on the sprawling life and work of
Ernest Hemingway while drawing parallels to his own. This memoir and biography
contains an in-depth analysis of the places and people in Hemingway's life.
The codfish has influenced wars, revolutions, diets, economies, and the settlement of North America, becoming a treasure more valuable than gold for millions. Its significance spans a millennium and four continents, from the Vikings pursuing cod across the Atlantic to the Basques, who commercialized it in medieval times. Key figures include Bartholomew Gosnold, who named Cape Cod in 1602, and Clarence Birdseye, who pioneered the frozen cod industry in the 1930s. The narrative explores the fifteenth-century politics of the Hanseatic League and the cod wars of the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. The author enriches the tale with culinary details, including recipes and lore from the Middle Ages to today, while vividly portraying the cod's personality, habits, and extended family. The story also highlights the tragedy of the once-abundant fish now facing extinction. From fishing ports in New England and Newfoundland to coastal skiffs and factory ships across the Atlantic, and from Iceland and Scandinavia to the coasts of England, Brazil, and West Africa, this account weaves together world history and human passions in a captivating manner.
Paper is one of the simplest and most essential pieces of human technology. For the past two millennia, the ability to produce it in ever more efficient ways has supported the proliferation of literacy, media, religion, education, commerce, and art. It has created civilizations, fostering the fomenting of revolutions and the stabilizing of regimes. Witness history's greatest press run, which produced 6.5 billion copies of Mao zhu xi yu lu, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Zedong), or the fact that Leonardo da Vinci left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. Now, on the cusp of "going paperless"--And amid rampant speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society-we've come to a world-historic juncture to examine what paper means to civilization. Through tracing paper's evolution, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology's influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. 'Paper' will be the history that guides us forward in the twenty-first century and illuminates our times.
This volume covers the Basques, who settled in a corner of Spain and France in a land that is marked on no maps, a nation with a story that illuminates Europe's own saga. It blends economic, political, literary and culinary history into a heroic tale.
