Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World by Brian Fagan

Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World, by Brian Fagan, tells the history of the fish trade.  As it says on the back of the book:

"What gave Columbus the confidence in 1492 to set out across the Atlantic Ocean?  It would be convenient to believe that Columbus and his men were uniquely courageous.  A more reasonable explanation, however, is that Columbus was heir to a body of knowledge about seas and ships acquired at great cost over man centuries.
Fish on Friday tells a new story of the discovery of America.  In Brian Fagan's view, that discovery is the 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.  Encompassing ancient mythology, medieval religion, boatbuilding, commerce, and cutting-edge climate science, this dazzling and wide-ranging book shows the intricate tapestry of history in all its fascinating, astonishing complexity."

Sounds exciting, right?  The truth is that this novel reads like a research paper or text book and focuses mainly on the fish culture in Europe due to christianity, generations of fishermen, boatbuilding, and commerce.  All myth and medieval religion referenced are vague and unsatisfying.  A typical chapter (really, look at almost any of the 17) goes: historical fishing statistic, historical fishing statistic, description of a boat, description of another boat, more history on boats, how much people had to pay, recipe.  Any mention of what would be changes in the historical record about finding the New World are diluted by the commonly used phrase "No one will actually ever know, But probably."  Personally I feel this is an extremely  weak case--considering this entire book is supposed to be about how history is wrong and how people got to the Americas before Columbus.  If I were to recommend this book it would be to fishermen, fishing historians & maritime or naval historians.

2 out of 5 stars.