Fish on Friday Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World [Paperback]

What gave Christopher Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean?Fish on Fridaytells 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 Fridaywill intrigue everyone who wonders how the vast forces of climate, culture, and technology conspire to create the history we know.

Brian Faganis Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he has written many internationally acclaimed popular books about archaeology, includingThe Little Ice Age,Floods, Famines, and Emperors, andThe Long Summer. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.