Fish on Friday

How fisherman beat Columbus to the New World, all fueled by the European appetite for fish.  

“Brian Fagan weaves a detective story of Friday fish-eating.”—Jared Diamond, New York Times bestselling author of Guns, Germs, and Steel 

• “The details Fagan gives … reveal cunning man at his cleverest, always looking for ways, no matter how small, to make his life easier and more productive.”
  Los Angeles Times
• “In his just-published book Fish on Friday, the respected anthropologist Brian Fagan argues that fishermen who toiled to feed this European hunger probably laid eyes on Newfoundland before Columbus.”
  Wall Street Journal
• “Combining history, social commentary, scientific hypothesis, and fishing and sailing lore, as well as recipes for fish dishes in the ancient style, Fagan presents a refreshing and intriguing look at the discovery of America.”
  Science News
• “This superbly written and illustrated history of fishing is also a cookbook. Try the Roman fish stew recipe that survived the empire's collapse.”
  New Scientist
• “Brian Fagan is justly renowned for his immensely readable books on the human past. Fish on Friday is by far his best.”
  Times Higher Education Supplement
• “Brian Fagan weaves a detective story of Friday fish-eating, climate change, and ship design to guess who beat Columbus to the New World.” 
  Jared Diamond, New York Times bestselling author of Guns, Germs, and Steel
• “Delightful.... The author's intelligence, erudition, and sheer enthusiasm for his subject shine through on every page.”
  William Chester Jordan, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Emeritus, Princeton University
• “Enthralling history of one of our basic foods.”
  Anne Willan, culinary historian and founder of LaVarenne