every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

To make the history of a fish interesting, invigorating and moving is an almost impossible feat that Mark Kurlansky accomplishes fantastically well in this compact, learned, beautifully written gem of a book. Cod traces humankind's involvement with what was once one of the world's most plentiful foodstuffs. The Basque people, who Kurlansky suggests found America before Columbus, could only fish and forage (for whale meat) as far as they did because of the huge schools of cod they found, caught and salted as they went. Centuries before this Vikings had travelled from Norway across to Canada--the exact range of the Atlantic cod. Interspersed with old and forgotten recipes Cod becomes a fitting requiem to a fish no-one believed would ever become scarce nor become such a telling metaphor for our careless treatment of the sea, its bounty and our wider environment. --Mark Thwaite

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

Like a tasteless fishstick, 05 Oct 2007
Cod could have been a good book but the author, Mark Kurlansky, seems intent on driving home his point that the cod fish has been vital through the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurlansky isn't afraid to exaggerate or in some cases simply twist the truth in order to make this point. I can't speak for the entire book since I am not an expert on the entire history that he covers, but I can point out a couple of blatant errors. "How did the Vikings survive in greenless Greenland", Mr. Kurlansky asks on page 21. Cod is his answer. But that is incorrect. Greenland was not "greenless" when the Vikings settled there. As a quick trip to Wikipedia shows, Greenland was much warmer at the times the Vikings settled there. "These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading..." Not a single mention of fishing for cod. The second serious error of fact has to do with the Pilgrims. The author claims that the Mayflower was heading to New England for the rich cod fisheries. This is not true. The Pilgrims were actually headed 250 miles further south to the mouth of the Hudson River and only ended up in New England because of bad weather, lack of reliable maps, and illness on board ship. The book "Mayflower" doesn't even have an index entry for "cod" which would seem fairly unlikely if the fish was really as important as Mr. Kurlansky makes it out. These are two very serious errors and leave the entire book open to question. Looking through the reviews on Amazon I found quite a few small errors mentioned. Is any of Mr. Kurlansky's remaining history reliable?

What about the book in general? It is what is best called pop-history. Short chapters that mention a topic but go into depth on nothing is the rule. A perfect example is his discussion of the three cod wars between Great Britain and Iceland. You will find very little detail on a topic that could have been very interesting. Instead Mr. Kurlansky moves quickly through the wars apparently to keep to his sixteen-page chapter limit. We don't even get a detailed chapter on the star of the book, the cod. A simple fact such as that cod is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids isn't even mentioned. And there are also many examples of contradictions within the book. For example, on page 145 Mr. Murlansky says that the Icelandic fishermen avoided basing their boats in the fjords because they used oar-powered boats and it "would have added too many hours or rowing time to and from the fishing grounds." But a couple of sentences later he says the fishermen preferred to use oars "because the winds around fjords are erratic." If the fishermen aren't traveling through the fjords then why are the winds in the fjords even relevant?

Overall, the book is lightweight, quick reading that will be forgotten soon after reading. The book is not much like the many interesting cod recipes that Mr. Kurlansky sprinkles through the book but more like processed fish sticks produced by factory ships.

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read, 31 Aug 2007
Completely engrossing, and completely convincing, like a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminating a whole area of history. It explains how basque fishermen discovered America centuries before Christopher Culombus but kept it quiet because they didn't want anyone finding the source of the fish they supplied to Europe and Africa. There's a wonderful section on how holier than thou American puritans made fortunes out of doc, rum and slaves. And the ending is beautifully poignant. It's such a shame that the world has changed so much that there's no room for the fish that changed the world.

Great read , 07 Aug 2007
For anyone interested in either the fishing industry or in historical world politics this is a great and very easy read.

The author coevers in detail the importance of cod in the development of european North America. He does however somewhat overplay this importance. There were other aspects of North Americal produce that were of equal importance, and were equally hard fought over e.g. skins, cotton etc.

The book is interspersed with many intriguing recipes, which are certainly most tempting. For those uninitiated, I can heartily confirm that the choicest meat is indeed found on the head of the fish - that which in modern times is generally reduced to animal feed.

I feel the author could have improved his book greatly by covering also the history of the European cod fishery - which was almost entirely ignored.

Nevertheless, a great read. Now I'm off to read "Herring"

I loved this book, 27 Dec 2006
I red it for my degree in Biological Sciences. At that time I borrowed it but now I gonna buy it for myself as I find this is a very special book. The writting is simple and beautiful. You might eat fish differently afterwards! but at least you'll get some inside about what's going on with fishery, fishermen communities and marine ecosystems - and this all along with World History. Not only the forest disappears. What about climate changes and fishery? This book is a delice.

Fascinating, 12 Jan 2006
An intriguing mixture of history, sociology, politics, conservation and cooking!

This book charts the history of cod fishing from the dark ages to the present. The Basques were apparently the first peoples to fish cod commercially and as such they beat even the Vikings to North America by exploiting the rich fishing grounds off the east coast.

There is discussion of the ways that different people in Europe liked their cod. Here in Britain it is eaten almost 100% fresh (or at least fresh frozen), whilst in other countries they would not touch fresh cod, the French wanting only salted fish. Presumably this is historical due to the problems of transporting fresh fish over any great distance.

In North America the Basques got lost in the shuffle because they never bothered to lay territorial claims to the land around their fishing stations, and we get a dispassionate description of the “Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK, untainted by propaganda.

But the theme that runs through the book is over fishing. From the early days when the fish stocks were believed to be inexhaustible to the present when commercial sized fish are all but extinct in many areas of the North Atlantic. There is the bewilderment and anger of the fishermen, who blame anyone but themselves for the state of their fishing industry and the restrictions that have had to be imposed upon it.

The book is interspersed with cod recipes down the ages. Some are pretty disgusting to me; we don’t eat the intestines in the UK! Others I’m going to try just as soon as I can get my hands on some good fresh fish.

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

Like a tasteless fishstick, 05 Oct 2007
Cod could have been a good book but the author, Mark Kurlansky, seems intent on driving home his point that the cod fish has been vital through the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurlansky isn't afraid to exaggerate or in some cases simply twist the truth in order to make this point. I can't speak for the entire book since I am not an expert on the entire history that he covers, but I can point out a couple of blatant errors. "How did the Vikings survive in greenless Greenland", Mr. Kurlansky asks on page 21. Cod is his answer. But that is incorrect. Greenland was not "greenless" when the Vikings settled there. As a quick trip to Wikipedia shows, Greenland was much warmer at the times the Vikings settled there. "These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading..." Not a single mention of fishing for cod. The second serious error of fact has to do with the Pilgrims. The author claims that the Mayflower was heading to New England for the rich cod fisheries. This is not true. The Pilgrims were actually headed 250 miles further south to the mouth of the Hudson River and only ended up in New England because of bad weather, lack of reliable maps, and illness on board ship. The book "Mayflower" doesn't even have an index entry for "cod" which would seem fairly unlikely if the fish was really as important as Mr. Kurlansky makes it out. These are two very serious errors and leave the entire book open to question. Looking through the reviews on Amazon I found quite a few small errors mentioned. Is any of Mr. Kurlansky's remaining history reliable?

What about the book in general? It is what is best called pop-history. Short chapters that mention a topic but go into depth on nothing is the rule. A perfect example is his discussion of the three cod wars between Great Britain and Iceland. You will find very little detail on a topic that could have been very interesting. Instead Mr. Kurlansky moves quickly through the wars apparently to keep to his sixteen-page chapter limit. We don't even get a detailed chapter on the star of the book, the cod. A simple fact such as that cod is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids isn't even mentioned. And there are also many examples of contradictions within the book. For example, on page 145 Mr. Murlansky says that the Icelandic fishermen avoided basing their boats in the fjords because they used oar-powered boats and it "would have added too many hours or rowing time to and from the fishing grounds." But a couple of sentences later he says the fishermen preferred to use oars "because the winds around fjords are erratic." If the fishermen aren't traveling through the fjords then why are the winds in the fjords even relevant?

Overall, the book is lightweight, quick reading that will be forgotten soon after reading. The book is not much like the many interesting cod recipes that Mr. Kurlansky sprinkles through the book but more like processed fish sticks produced by factory ships.

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read, 31 Aug 2007
Completely engrossing, and completely convincing, like a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminating a whole area of history. It explains how basque fishermen discovered America centuries before Christopher Culombus but kept it quiet because they didn't want anyone finding the source of the fish they supplied to Europe and Africa. There's a wonderful section on how holier than thou American puritans made fortunes out of doc, rum and slaves. And the ending is beautifully poignant. It's such a shame that the world has changed so much that there's no room for the fish that changed the world.

Great read , 07 Aug 2007
For anyone interested in either the fishing industry or in historical world politics this is a great and very easy read.

The author coevers in detail the importance of cod in the development of european North America. He does however somewhat overplay this importance. There were other aspects of North Americal produce that were of equal importance, and were equally hard fought over e.g. skins, cotton etc.

The book is interspersed with many intriguing recipes, which are certainly most tempting. For those uninitiated, I can heartily confirm that the choicest meat is indeed found on the head of the fish - that which in modern times is generally reduced to animal feed.

I feel the author could have improved his book greatly by covering also the history of the European cod fishery - which was almost entirely ignored.

Nevertheless, a great read. Now I'm off to read "Herring"

I loved this book, 27 Dec 2006
I red it for my degree in Biological Sciences. At that time I borrowed it but now I gonna buy it for myself as I find this is a very special book. The writting is simple and beautiful. You might eat fish differently afterwards! but at least you'll get some inside about what's going on with fishery, fishermen communities and marine ecosystems - and this all along with World History. Not only the forest disappears. What about climate changes and fishery? This book is a delice.

Fascinating, 12 Jan 2006
An intriguing mixture of history, sociology, politics, conservation and cooking!

This book charts the history of cod fishing from the dark ages to the present. The Basques were apparently the first peoples to fish cod commercially and as such they beat even the Vikings to North America by exploiting the rich fishing grounds off the east coast.

There is discussion of the ways that different people in Europe liked their cod. Here in Britain it is eaten almost 100% fresh (or at least fresh frozen), whilst in other countries they would not touch fresh cod, the French wanting only salted fish. Presumably this is historical due to the problems of transporting fresh fish over any great distance.

In North America the Basques got lost in the shuffle because they never bothered to lay territorial claims to the land around their fishing stations, and we get a dispassionate description of the “Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK, untainted by propaganda.

But the theme that runs through the book is over fishing. From the early days when the fish stocks were believed to be inexhaustible to the present when commercial sized fish are all but extinct in many areas of the North Atlantic. There is the bewilderment and anger of the fishermen, who blame anyone but themselves for the state of their fishing industry and the restrictions that have had to be imposed upon it.

The book is interspersed with cod recipes down the ages. Some are pretty disgusting to me; we don’t eat the intestines in the UK! Others I’m going to try just as soon as I can get my hands on some good fresh fish.

Hubris , 17 Dec 2008
This is a serious, and understatedly well written work on a sentinel species* whose majesty and mystery humans have only glimpsed at, hence our arrogant and criminally sad attempts to bottle the Beluga whale genie in fresh water in the nineteenth century.
* sentinel because if/when the last whale expires or is harpooned for cat food, humans will really be staring into the abyss.

A Leviathan of a Book (boom, boom), 16 Nov 2008
Superb. Not being a fan of whales, I picked this up on a whim. But Hoare brings his topic to life like noone else. We are treated to a succession of regional histories, some personal reflections, a running treatment of Melville's Moby Dick and its context, several beautifully reproduced etchings and statistics that amaze and confound. Inevitably, given the size of the book, there are narrative sags and occasional repetitions. But this is a beautiful book that repays revisiting, not to mention dipping in and out of simply to be reminded of how awesome Leviathans really are.

A whaley good book - sorry!, 23 Sep 2008
This is a heartfelt and poignant book that details the authors deep respect for these giants of the sea. Part scientific description, part history of whaling, part travelogue and with several diversions to Moby Dick, this book shatters myths yet manages to divulge loads of new facts and interesting stories. Beautifully illustrated, this an extremely well laid out book, and for a hardback, remarkably light, which I think is important as it can be read on the train.

Well worth a look for any nature lover, anyone with even a passing interest in the sea, and anyone who just wants to read a darn fine history and travel book, this must encourage you to read and help you understand Moby Dick a book I have never read but certainly intend to do so now.

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

Like a tasteless fishstick, 05 Oct 2007
Cod could have been a good book but the author, Mark Kurlansky, seems intent on driving home his point that the cod fish has been vital through the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurlansky isn't afraid to exaggerate or in some cases simply twist the truth in order to make this point. I can't speak for the entire book since I am not an expert on the entire history that he covers, but I can point out a couple of blatant errors. "How did the Vikings survive in greenless Greenland", Mr. Kurlansky asks on page 21. Cod is his answer. But that is incorrect. Greenland was not "greenless" when the Vikings settled there. As a quick trip to Wikipedia shows, Greenland was much warmer at the times the Vikings settled there. "These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading..." Not a single mention of fishing for cod. The second serious error of fact has to do with the Pilgrims. The author claims that the Mayflower was heading to New England for the rich cod fisheries. This is not true. The Pilgrims were actually headed 250 miles further south to the mouth of the Hudson River and only ended up in New England because of bad weather, lack of reliable maps, and illness on board ship. The book "Mayflower" doesn't even have an index entry for "cod" which would seem fairly unlikely if the fish was really as important as Mr. Kurlansky makes it out. These are two very serious errors and leave the entire book open to question. Looking through the reviews on Amazon I found quite a few small errors mentioned. Is any of Mr. Kurlansky's remaining history reliable?

What about the book in general? It is what is best called pop-history. Short chapters that mention a topic but go into depth on nothing is the rule. A perfect example is his discussion of the three cod wars between Great Britain and Iceland. You will find very little detail on a topic that could have been very interesting. Instead Mr. Kurlansky moves quickly through the wars apparently to keep to his sixteen-page chapter limit. We don't even get a detailed chapter on the star of the book, the cod. A simple fact such as that cod is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids isn't even mentioned. And there are also many examples of contradictions within the book. For example, on page 145 Mr. Murlansky says that the Icelandic fishermen avoided basing their boats in the fjords because they used oar-powered boats and it "would have added too many hours or rowing time to and from the fishing grounds." But a couple of sentences later he says the fishermen preferred to use oars "because the winds around fjords are erratic." If the fishermen aren't traveling through the fjords then why are the winds in the fjords even relevant?

Overall, the book is lightweight, quick reading that will be forgotten soon after reading. The book is not much like the many interesting cod recipes that Mr. Kurlansky sprinkles through the book but more like processed fish sticks produced by factory ships.

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read, 31 Aug 2007
Completely engrossing, and completely convincing, like a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminating a whole area of history. It explains how basque fishermen discovered America centuries before Christopher Culombus but kept it quiet because they didn't want anyone finding the source of the fish they supplied to Europe and Africa. There's a wonderful section on how holier than thou American puritans made fortunes out of doc, rum and slaves. And the ending is beautifully poignant. It's such a shame that the world has changed so much that there's no room for the fish that changed the world.

Great read , 07 Aug 2007
For anyone interested in either the fishing industry or in historical world politics this is a great and very easy read.

The author coevers in detail the importance of cod in the development of european North America. He does however somewhat overplay this importance. There were other aspects of North Americal produce that were of equal importance, and were equally hard fought over e.g. skins, cotton etc.

The book is interspersed with many intriguing recipes, which are certainly most tempting. For those uninitiated, I can heartily confirm that the choicest meat is indeed found on the head of the fish - that which in modern times is generally reduced to animal feed.

I feel the author could have improved his book greatly by covering also the history of the European cod fishery - which was almost entirely ignored.

Nevertheless, a great read. Now I'm off to read "Herring"

I loved this book, 27 Dec 2006
I red it for my degree in Biological Sciences. At that time I borrowed it but now I gonna buy it for myself as I find this is a very special book. The writting is simple and beautiful. You might eat fish differently afterwards! but at least you'll get some inside about what's going on with fishery, fishermen communities and marine ecosystems - and this all along with World History. Not only the forest disappears. What about climate changes and fishery? This book is a delice.

Fascinating, 12 Jan 2006
An intriguing mixture of history, sociology, politics, conservation and cooking!

This book charts the history of cod fishing from the dark ages to the present. The Basques were apparently the first peoples to fish cod commercially and as such they beat even the Vikings to North America by exploiting the rich fishing grounds off the east coast.

There is discussion of the ways that different people in Europe liked their cod. Here in Britain it is eaten almost 100% fresh (or at least fresh frozen), whilst in other countries they would not touch fresh cod, the French wanting only salted fish. Presumably this is historical due to the problems of transporting fresh fish over any great distance.

In North America the Basques got lost in the shuffle because they never bothered to lay territorial claims to the land around their fishing stations, and we get a dispassionate description of the “Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK, untainted by propaganda.

But the theme that runs through the book is over fishing. From the early days when the fish stocks were believed to be inexhaustible to the present when commercial sized fish are all but extinct in many areas of the North Atlantic. There is the bewilderment and anger of the fishermen, who blame anyone but themselves for the state of their fishing industry and the restrictions that have had to be imposed upon it.

The book is interspersed with cod recipes down the ages. Some are pretty disgusting to me; we don’t eat the intestines in the UK! Others I’m going to try just as soon as I can get my hands on some good fresh fish.

Hubris , 17 Dec 2008
This is a serious, and understatedly well written work on a sentinel species* whose majesty and mystery humans have only glimpsed at, hence our arrogant and criminally sad attempts to bottle the Beluga whale genie in fresh water in the nineteenth century.
* sentinel because if/when the last whale expires or is harpooned for cat food, humans will really be staring into the abyss.

A Leviathan of a Book (boom, boom), 16 Nov 2008
Superb. Not being a fan of whales, I picked this up on a whim. But Hoare brings his topic to life like noone else. We are treated to a succession of regional histories, some personal reflections, a running treatment of Melville's Moby Dick and its context, several beautifully reproduced etchings and statistics that amaze and confound. Inevitably, given the size of the book, there are narrative sags and occasional repetitions. But this is a beautiful book that repays revisiting, not to mention dipping in and out of simply to be reminded of how awesome Leviathans really are.

A whaley good book - sorry!, 23 Sep 2008
This is a heartfelt and poignant book that details the authors deep respect for these giants of the sea. Part scientific description, part history of whaling, part travelogue and with several diversions to Moby Dick, this book shatters myths yet manages to divulge loads of new facts and interesting stories. Beautifully illustrated, this an extremely well laid out book, and for a hardback, remarkably light, which I think is important as it can be read on the train.

Well worth a look for any nature lover, anyone with even a passing interest in the sea, and anyone who just wants to read a darn fine history and travel book, this must encourage you to read and help you understand Moby Dick a book I have never read but certainly intend to do so now.

Really good introdution, 21 Jul 2003
This book is aq really good introdution to the life in the oceans. I recently used this book for a module in my Oceanography degree and it was really helpful. I also recommend this book for Marine Biologists as well.

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

Like a tasteless fishstick, 05 Oct 2007
Cod could have been a good book but the author, Mark Kurlansky, seems intent on driving home his point that the cod fish has been vital through the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurlansky isn't afraid to exaggerate or in some cases simply twist the truth in order to make this point. I can't speak for the entire book since I am not an expert on the entire history that he covers, but I can point out a couple of blatant errors. "How did the Vikings survive in greenless Greenland", Mr. Kurlansky asks on page 21. Cod is his answer. But that is incorrect. Greenland was not "greenless" when the Vikings settled there. As a quick trip to Wikipedia shows, Greenland was much warmer at the times the Vikings settled there. "These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading..." Not a single mention of fishing for cod. The second serious error of fact has to do with the Pilgrims. The author claims that the Mayflower was heading to New England for the rich cod fisheries. This is not true. The Pilgrims were actually headed 250 miles further south to the mouth of the Hudson River and only ended up in New England because of bad weather, lack of reliable maps, and illness on board ship. The book "Mayflower" doesn't even have an index entry for "cod" which would seem fairly unlikely if the fish was really as important as Mr. Kurlansky makes it out. These are two very serious errors and leave the entire book open to question. Looking through the reviews on Amazon I found quite a few small errors mentioned. Is any of Mr. Kurlansky's remaining history reliable?

What about the book in general? It is what is best called pop-history. Short chapters that mention a topic but go into depth on nothing is the rule. A perfect example is his discussion of the three cod wars between Great Britain and Iceland. You will find very little detail on a topic that could have been very interesting. Instead Mr. Kurlansky moves quickly through the wars apparently to keep to his sixteen-page chapter limit. We don't even get a detailed chapter on the star of the book, the cod. A simple fact such as that cod is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids isn't even mentioned. And there are also many examples of contradictions within the book. For example, on page 145 Mr. Murlansky says that the Icelandic fishermen avoided basing their boats in the fjords because they used oar-powered boats and it "would have added too many hours or rowing time to and from the fishing grounds." But a couple of sentences later he says the fishermen preferred to use oars "because the winds around fjords are erratic." If the fishermen aren't traveling through the fjords then why are the winds in the fjords even relevant?

Overall, the book is lightweight, quick reading that will be forgotten soon after reading. The book is not much like the many interesting cod recipes that Mr. Kurlansky sprinkles through the book but more like processed fish sticks produced by factory ships.

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read, 31 Aug 2007
Completely engrossing, and completely convincing, like a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminating a whole area of history. It explains how basque fishermen discovered America centuries before Christopher Culombus but kept it quiet because they didn't want anyone finding the source of the fish they supplied to Europe and Africa. There's a wonderful section on how holier than thou American puritans made fortunes out of doc, rum and slaves. And the ending is beautifully poignant. It's such a shame that the world has changed so much that there's no room for the fish that changed the world.

Great read , 07 Aug 2007
For anyone interested in either the fishing industry or in historical world politics this is a great and very easy read.

The author coevers in detail the importance of cod in the development of european North America. He does however somewhat overplay this importance. There were other aspects of North Americal produce that were of equal importance, and were equally hard fought over e.g. skins, cotton etc.

The book is interspersed with many intriguing recipes, which are certainly most tempting. For those uninitiated, I can heartily confirm that the choicest meat is indeed found on the head of the fish - that which in modern times is generally reduced to animal feed.

I feel the author could have improved his book greatly by covering also the history of the European cod fishery - which was almost entirely ignored.

Nevertheless, a great read. Now I'm off to read "Herring"

I loved this book, 27 Dec 2006
I red it for my degree in Biological Sciences. At that time I borrowed it but now I gonna buy it for myself as I find this is a very special book. The writting is simple and beautiful. You might eat fish differently afterwards! but at least you'll get some inside about what's going on with fishery, fishermen communities and marine ecosystems - and this all along with World History. Not only the forest disappears. What about climate changes and fishery? This book is a delice.

Fascinating, 12 Jan 2006
An intriguing mixture of history, sociology, politics, conservation and cooking!

This book charts the history of cod fishing from the dark ages to the present. The Basques were apparently the first peoples to fish cod commercially and as such they beat even the Vikings to North America by exploiting the rich fishing grounds off the east coast.

There is discussion of the ways that different people in Europe liked their cod. Here in Britain it is eaten almost 100% fresh (or at least fresh frozen), whilst in other countries they would not touch fresh cod, the French wanting only salted fish. Presumably this is historical due to the problems of transporting fresh fish over any great distance.

In North America the Basques got lost in the shuffle because they never bothered to lay territorial claims to the land around their fishing stations, and we get a dispassionate description of the “Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK, untainted by propaganda.

But the theme that runs through the book is over fishing. From the early days when the fish stocks were believed to be inexhaustible to the present when commercial sized fish are all but extinct in many areas of the North Atlantic. There is the bewilderment and anger of the fishermen, who blame anyone but themselves for the state of their fishing industry and the restrictions that have had to be imposed upon it.

The book is interspersed with cod recipes down the ages. Some are pretty disgusting to me; we don’t eat the intestines in the UK! Others I’m going to try just as soon as I can get my hands on some good fresh fish.

Hubris , 17 Dec 2008
This is a serious, and understatedly well written work on a sentinel species* whose majesty and mystery humans have only glimpsed at, hence our arrogant and criminally sad attempts to bottle the Beluga whale genie in fresh water in the nineteenth century.
* sentinel because if/when the last whale expires or is harpooned for cat food, humans will really be staring into the abyss.

A Leviathan of a Book (boom, boom), 16 Nov 2008
Superb. Not being a fan of whales, I picked this up on a whim. But Hoare brings his topic to life like noone else. We are treated to a succession of regional histories, some personal reflections, a running treatment of Melville's Moby Dick and its context, several beautifully reproduced etchings and statistics that amaze and confound. Inevitably, given the size of the book, there are narrative sags and occasional repetitions. But this is a beautiful book that repays revisiting, not to mention dipping in and out of simply to be reminded of how awesome Leviathans really are.

A whaley good book - sorry!, 23 Sep 2008
This is a heartfelt and poignant book that details the authors deep respect for these giants of the sea. Part scientific description, part history of whaling, part travelogue and with several diversions to Moby Dick, this book shatters myths yet manages to divulge loads of new facts and interesting stories. Beautifully illustrated, this an extremely well laid out book, and for a hardback, remarkably light, which I think is important as it can be read on the train.

Well worth a look for any nature lover, anyone with even a passing interest in the sea, and anyone who just wants to read a darn fine history and travel book, this must encourage you to read and help you understand Moby Dick a book I have never read but certainly intend to do so now.

Really good introdution, 21 Jul 2003
This book is aq really good introdution to the life in the oceans. I recently used this book for a module in my Oceanography degree and it was really helpful. I also recommend this book for Marine Biologists as well.

Covers more species in total than "Red Sea Reef Guide", 09 Sep 2008
From the books about coral reef life in the Red sea I have seen and used this one, Coral Reef Guide Red Sea by Lieske & Meyers (2004), has the best coverage of species and groups I have wanted to identify. The closest alternative, or complement, I know about now is "Red sea reef guide" by Helmus Debelius (2 ed 2000 - 5 ed 2007). The latter has almost 900 scientific names in the index, compared with around 1800 for this one (but some of these are genera, families, classes and other group names). The weights and sizes of these books are almost the same (384 pages vs 321 in Debelius). Almost all species in Debelius book seem to be included in this book. Apart from Debelius book the closest competitor to me seem to be "Reef fishes and corals of the red sea" by Harrison and Misiewicz (2000), which has some good text and pictures but covers about 250 species only.

To provide some examples, Lieske and Meyers book has 30 pages about Cnidarians (corals and more) vs Debelius 5 pages. Fishes, reptiles and mammals are covered in 212 pages for around 600 species, vs Debelius 223 pages for slightly fewer species. If you are interested also in sponges, algae and seagrasses the choice is simple - 16 pages in Lieske and Meyers and none in Debelius. For Molluscs the figures are 40 vs 48. Counting pages can be misleading of course: for cone shells (a mollusc group) I prefer this book over Debelius, not only because it shows 13 species vs 3 in Debelius, but also for more informative descriptions. There are other species or groups where Debelius provides more details.

So, if you are interested in everything visible at the coral reefs of the Red sea, you surely want both this book and others. But if I had to choose one, it would be this one. For the next edition I would be happy to see even more species included.

An excellent guide for underwater enthusiasts, 27 Jun 2007
A really good detailed book for anyone who wants more information on the underwater species in the Red Sea. I am really impressed. The photos are clear and better than the drawings you get in many fish guides. The book also covers corals and mammals as well as fish and is very comprehensive.

The best for Red Sea divers, 07 Jun 2007
Simply put, this is the best guide to the marine life of the Red Sea available today. Great images, reliable identification, clear and interesting texts, enormous scope, handy size, reasonable price - what more could one ask? Divers and u/w photographers planning to visit this specific area cannot do without it - one of its authors, Robert Myers, has also produced another landmark in area-specific marine life guidebooks, the incredibly complete Micronesian Reef Fishes.

Indispensable guide, 13 Sep 2005
My partner and I took this book to Sharm El Sheikh for our first underwater excursion in the Red Sea. We used it everyday! It's full of great photos of fish and, by the time we came home, we could identify lots of different types of fish, coral etc. It also has information about the fish so that when you're looking at them you know a bit about them which I think is important. It tells you which fish are dangerous as well and how to stay safe. It enhanced my trip immensely and I would recommend it to anyone with a love of the natural world.

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

Like a tasteless fishstick, 05 Oct 2007
Cod could have been a good book but the author, Mark Kurlansky, seems intent on driving home his point that the cod fish has been vital through the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurlansky isn't afraid to exaggerate or in some cases simply twist the truth in order to make this point. I can't speak for the entire book since I am not an expert on the entire history that he covers, but I can point out a couple of blatant errors. "How did the Vikings survive in greenless Greenland", Mr. Kurlansky asks on page 21. Cod is his answer. But that is incorrect. Greenland was not "greenless" when the Vikings settled there. As a quick trip to Wikipedia shows, Greenland was much warmer at the times the Vikings settled there. "These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading..." Not a single mention of fishing for cod. The second serious error of fact has to do with the Pilgrims. The author claims that the Mayflower was heading to New England for the rich cod fisheries. This is not true. The Pilgrims were actually headed 250 miles further south to the mouth of the Hudson River and only ended up in New England because of bad weather, lack of reliable maps, and illness on board ship. The book "Mayflower" doesn't even have an index entry for "cod" which would seem fairly unlikely if the fish was really as important as Mr. Kurlansky makes it out. These are two very serious errors and leave the entire book open to question. Looking through the reviews on Amazon I found quite a few small errors mentioned. Is any of Mr. Kurlansky's remaining history reliable?

What about the book in general? It is what is best called pop-history. Short chapters that mention a topic but go into depth on nothing is the rule. A perfect example is his discussion of the three cod wars between Great Britain and Iceland. You will find very little detail on a topic that could have been very interesting. Instead Mr. Kurlansky moves quickly through the wars apparently to keep to his sixteen-page chapter limit. We don't even get a detailed chapter on the star of the book, the cod. A simple fact such as that cod is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids isn't even mentioned. And there are also many examples of contradictions within the book. For example, on page 145 Mr. Murlansky says that the Icelandic fishermen avoided basing their boats in the fjords because they used oar-powered boats and it "would have added too many hours or rowing time to and from the fishing grounds." But a couple of sentences later he says the fishermen preferred to use oars "because the winds around fjords are erratic." If the fishermen aren't traveling through the fjords then why are the winds in the fjords even relevant?

Overall, the book is lightweight, quick reading that will be forgotten soon after reading. The book is not much like the many interesting cod recipes that Mr. Kurlansky sprinkles through the book but more like processed fish sticks produced by factory ships.

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read, 31 Aug 2007
Completely engrossing, and completely convincing, like a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminating a whole area of history. It explains how basque fishermen discovered America centuries before Christopher Culombus but kept it quiet because they didn't want anyone finding the source of the fish they supplied to Europe and Africa. There's a wonderful section on how holier than thou American puritans made fortunes out of doc, rum and slaves. And the ending is beautifully poignant. It's such a shame that the world has changed so much that there's no room for the fish that changed the world.

Great read , 07 Aug 2007
For anyone interested in either the fishing industry or in historical world politics this is a great and very easy read.

The author coevers in detail the importance of cod in the development of european North America. He does however somewhat overplay this importance. There were other aspects of North Americal produce that were of equal importance, and were equally hard fought over e.g. skins, cotton etc.

The book is interspersed with many intriguing recipes, which are certainly most tempting. For those uninitiated, I can heartily confirm that the choicest meat is indeed found on the head of the fish - that which in modern times is generally reduced to animal feed.

I feel the author could have improved his book greatly by covering also the history of the European cod fishery - which was almost entirely ignored.

Nevertheless, a great read. Now I'm off to read "Herring"

I loved this book, 27 Dec 2006
I red it for my degree in Biological Sciences. At that time I borrowed it but now I gonna buy it for myself as I find this is a very special book. The writting is simple and beautiful. You might eat fish differently afterwards! but at least you'll get some inside about what's going on with fishery, fishermen communities and marine ecosystems - and this all along with World History. Not only the forest disappears. What about climate changes and fishery? This book is a delice.

Fascinating, 12 Jan 2006
An intriguing mixture of history, sociology, politics, conservation and cooking!

This book charts the history of cod fishing from the dark ages to the present. The Basques were apparently the first peoples to fish cod commercially and as such they beat even the Vikings to North America by exploiting the rich fishing grounds off the east coast.

There is discussion of the ways that different people in Europe liked their cod. Here in Britain it is eaten almost 100% fresh (or at least fresh frozen), whilst in other countries they would not touch fresh cod, the French wanting only salted fish. Presumably this is historical due to the problems of transporting fresh fish over any great distance.

In North America the Basques got lost in the shuffle because they never bothered to lay territorial claims to the land around their fishing stations, and we get a dispassionate description of the “Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK, untainted by propaganda.

But the theme that runs through the book is over fishing. From the early days when the fish stocks were believed to be inexhaustible to the present when commercial sized fish are all but extinct in many areas of the North Atlantic. There is the bewilderment and anger of the fishermen, who blame anyone but themselves for the state of their fishing industry and the restrictions that have had to be imposed upon it.

The book is interspersed with cod recipes down the ages. Some are pretty disgusting to me; we don’t eat the intestines in the UK! Others I’m going to try just as soon as I can get my hands on some good fresh fish.

Hubris , 17 Dec 2008
This is a serious, and understatedly well written work on a sentinel species* whose majesty and mystery humans have only glimpsed at, hence our arrogant and criminally sad attempts to bottle the Beluga whale genie in fresh water in the nineteenth century.
* sentinel because if/when the last whale expires or is harpooned for cat food, humans will really be staring into the abyss.

A Leviathan of a Book (boom, boom), 16 Nov 2008
Superb. Not being a fan of whales, I picked this up on a whim. But Hoare brings his topic to life like noone else. We are treated to a succession of regional histories, some personal reflections, a running treatment of Melville's Moby Dick and its context, several beautifully reproduced etchings and statistics that amaze and confound. Inevitably, given the size of the book, there are narrative sags and occasional repetitions. But this is a beautiful book that repays revisiting, not to mention dipping in and out of simply to be reminded of how awesome Leviathans really are.

A whaley good book - sorry!, 23 Sep 2008
This is a heartfelt and poignant book that details the authors deep respect for these giants of the sea. Part scientific description, part history of whaling, part travelogue and with several diversions to Moby Dick, this book shatters myths yet manages to divulge loads of new facts and interesting stories. Beautifully illustrated, this an extremely well laid out book, and for a hardback, remarkably light, which I think is important as it can be read on the train.

Well worth a look for any nature lover, anyone with even a passing interest in the sea, and anyone who just wants to read a darn fine history and travel book, this must encourage you to read and help you understand Moby Dick a book I have never read but certainly intend to do so now.

Really good introdution, 21 Jul 2003
This book is aq really good introdution to the life in the oceans. I recently used this book for a module in my Oceanography degree and it was really helpful. I also recommend this book for Marine Biologists as well.

Covers more species in total than "Red Sea Reef Guide", 09 Sep 2008
From the books about coral reef life in the Red sea I have seen and used this one, Coral Reef Guide Red Sea by Lieske & Meyers (2004), has the best coverage of species and groups I have wanted to identify. The closest alternative, or complement, I know about now is "Red sea reef guide" by Helmus Debelius (2 ed 2000 - 5 ed 2007). The latter has almost 900 scientific names in the index, compared with around 1800 for this one (but some of these are genera, families, classes and other group names). The weights and sizes of these books are almost the same (384 pages vs 321 in Debelius). Almost all species in Debelius book seem to be included in this book. Apart from Debelius book the closest competitor to me seem to be "Reef fishes and corals of the red sea" by Harrison and Misiewicz (2000), which has some good text and pictures but covers about 250 species only.

To provide some examples, Lieske and Meyers book has 30 pages about Cnidarians (corals and more) vs Debelius 5 pages. Fishes, reptiles and mammals are covered in 212 pages for around 600 species, vs Debelius 223 pages for slightly fewer species. If you are interested also in sponges, algae and seagrasses the choice is simple - 16 pages in Lieske and Meyers and none in Debelius. For Molluscs the figures are 40 vs 48. Counting pages can be misleading of course: for cone shells (a mollusc group) I prefer this book over Debelius, not only because it shows 13 species vs 3 in Debelius, but also for more informative descriptions. There are other species or groups where Debelius provides more details.

So, if you are interested in everything visible at the coral reefs of the Red sea, you surely want both this book and others. But if I had to choose one, it would be this one. For the next edition I would be happy to see even more species included.

An excellent guide for underwater enthusiasts, 27 Jun 2007
A really good detailed book for anyone who wants more information on the underwater species in the Red Sea. I am really impressed. The photos are clear and better than the drawings you get in many fish guides. The book also covers corals and mammals as well as fish and is very comprehensive.

The best for Red Sea divers, 07 Jun 2007
Simply put, this is the best guide to the marine life of the Red Sea available today. Great images, reliable identification, clear and interesting texts, enormous scope, handy size, reasonable price - what more could one ask? Divers and u/w photographers planning to visit this specific area cannot do without it - one of its authors, Robert Myers, has also produced another landmark in area-specific marine life guidebooks, the incredibly complete Micronesian Reef Fishes.

Indispensable guide, 13 Sep 2005
My partner and I took this book to Sharm El Sheikh for our first underwater excursion in the Red Sea. We used it everyday! It's full of great photos of fish and, by the time we came home, we could identify lots of different types of fish, coral etc. It also has information about the fish so that when you're looking at them you know a bit about them which I think is important. It tells you which fish are dangerous as well and how to stay safe. It enhanced my trip immensely and I would recommend it to anyone with a love of the natural world.

A Diver's Guide to Reef Life, 17 Sep 2007
A Diver's Guide to Reef Life

Comment by Stephen Wong, Marine Wildlife Photojournalist

I used to believe that biologists (or people who knew much of science) did not make the prettiest images, while dedicated photographers were merely trying to paint aesthetic pictures but didn't know a lot about the scientific part of their subjects. I am sure the biologists could shoot extremely well but they just didn't have the time to create the pretty photos, as their time spent would be doing much research in lab and field. At the same time, wildlife photographers could be stellar ecologist but simply lack the proper background training to discuss seriously the scientific side, or the photographers could know in-depth biology on only a few subjects but not many. Gee, am I wrong! "A Diver's Guide to Reef Life" by Andrea & Antonella Ferrari has changed my stereotypic perception.

This 480-page 16cm X 18cm book delivers a wealth of scientific knowledge plus a full load of exquisite images. There must be at least 828 species (I counted) of the more encountered and diver-interested marine creatures' discussed and over 1,200 species of animals deftly composed in the book. Not only the general distribution and sizing of the subjects are talked about, the animals' individual habitats and their intrigue life habits are discussed. The ID shots for the `science' section are more than adequate as the pictures clearly show the species' colors, shapes and unique features so that viewers can immediately locate and relate to. The life habits section and the galleries (many beautiful images) are my most favorite. I am learning a lot from these two areas, plus from the underwater photo-tips that the Ferraris stated in each family introduction.

Besides the more popular diver-quested subjects, such as sharks to the jeweled pygmy seahorses, the book also covers subjects that may be of less interest to most divers, like the corals, sponges and sea squirts. Though these are not talked in-depth, the authors have used ample images to let the readers compare to what they see in their dives - a criteria for a good guide book. The Ferraris also have dedicated a small section on the dangers that the ecosystem now faces and suggested a list of `Don'ts' for everyone to help to preserve the fragile reef.

"A Diver's Guide to Reef Life" is a book that makes nature lovers learn more about the denizens of the seas and the relationships with each other. With interesting marine science balances eye-savvy images, be the book placed on the shelf for educational purposes or bringing it on dive locations for reference, I highly recommend the book for everyone and all resorts.

An essential book for any diver's library, 18 Jun 2007
ANDREA AND ANTONELLA FERRARI have spent years amassing the photographs and information contained in A Diver's Guide to Reef Life, and it shows.
With 1200 tropical species, ranging from coral polyps, gorgonians, sea squirts, sponges, nudibranchs and all of the main fish groups, this is a truly comprehensive work, and probably the only reef guide most divers will need to take with them on a trip.
Covering the Red Sea, Indo-Pacific and many Caribbean species, the book comes in a handy, almost square format with just three species per page, allowing good-sized images of high quality.
The authors describe each species carefully, and where possible give information on behaviour to assist with identification. For example, the reader learns that the orangeband surgeonfish (Acanthurus olivaceus) "can switch its main body colour from dark olive to tan to dark blue in seconds" and that there are 40 different species of triggerfish. One section shows juvenile specimens of some of the commonest fish, demonstrating how unlike their adult forms they can be.
Photographically, Reef Life is excellent, with every shot a genuinely representative view of the animal or fish described. The book also contains a good general introduction to coral-reef ecology, and titbits of information are spread throughout the text: "94 million tonnes of fish are now taken globally each year, compared to 19 million tonnes in 1950."
The Ferraris also produced the Macrolife Guide to Underwater Malaysia, in my opinion the best of its kind. Now they have created an indispensable companion volume that will serve every diver well.
Tim Ecott is the author of Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World


A rare decent book with a global scope, 06 Jun 2007
As a marine biologist as well as an author and photographer of marine life books, I am very selective in my choice of those that end up on my shelf. I am particularly critical of books with a global scope as these invariably include only a small fraction of what lives in any particular area. These books usually include only what the photographer happens to have good photographs of rather than what is important. This book is an exception as the authors have included many excellent photographs taken by others. In doing so the authors have managed to pull together 1200 of the most important and interesting species, all with concise information on distribution, habitat and behavior. No book of this kind is immune from misidentification, but this one has fewer than most. It's a keeper. For those in the w. Pacific who want to dig deeper, please also check the following: Micronesian Reef Fishes: A Field Guide for Divers and Aquarists

Extra-emely useful, 06 Jun 2007
I am the British owner and operator of a scuba-diving company in Bali, Indonesia and we have several copies of this book available for dive staff and divers to use as reference.

That said, this is more than simply a 'reference' book. I don't think I've ever opened it to look for one particular fish/nudi/whatever and not found myself flipping through the pages. They've even included Mola-Mola (Oceanic sunfish)!

The pictures are well-shot and very clear, whereas in some "ID" books the photos are a little unappealing.

The info for each entry is succinct and useful. The "zoom" pages are informative and, while there's no 'dumbing down', are relatively easily understood by people's whose first language is not English which is useful for us.

No book can be all things to all people but an indication of how frequently the books are used for reference is that we have had to get them rebound several times. (Nothing against the quality of production, they're good quality books!)

If you're particularly "into", say, nudis, then buy a nudi book but as an overall ID book, with a fair amount of extra info thrown in, I'd recommend this.

A quick survey of my dive staff produced comments that included "very good - please buy more!" to "extra-emely useful".


A terrific book for divers wanting more from their dives., 20 Apr 2007
A Diver's Guide to Reef Life is an amazing reference guide detailing 1200 tropical species from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific. With over 1300 eye-popping photos, the book covers everything from corals to mammals, from reptiles to bony fish. More than just a photo album with lots of pretty pictures, the Ferraris write with as much authority on the skeletal components of coral polyps, for example, as they do on a shark's countershading. If you can rip yourself away from the crazy kaleidoscope of images, you'll find the engaging text to thoroughly yet concisely explain how cnidoblasts inject their nematocysts; what influences a coral colony's structure; and how calcareous spicules support soft corals. Don't worry if you don't know all the jargon before you crack the spine of this fabulous book. The Ferraris explain everything, and after spending a few minutes with A Diver's Guide, you'll understand plenty.

After a brief introduction that explains what a coral reef is and how you can protect it, the book sinks its teeth into Chondorichthyes -- cartilagionous fishes that include sharks and rays. Throughout the book, each creature profiled gets a snapshot and a detailed description that includes distribution, size, habitat, and "life habits." Thoughtfully, the Ferraris also provide underwater photo tips specific to many of the families, so you can come home with photos as brilliant as those in the book. After cartilagionous fishes, the Ferraris detail bony fishes, crustaceans, cephalopods, reptiles, and mammals. They even cover the "topside reef" and discuss some of the animals lurking along the sandy shoreline outside your dive lodge.

The Ferraris decided to throw in some bonus sections, as well. One of the sections, "Zoom," spotlights a general group of animals, or a certain technique that groups of animals have adopted (think: camouflage or schooling). Other sections, like the "Galleries," are fan-tabulous photo essays featuring, for example, hard corals, sponges, sea squirts, sea shells, flatworms, nudibranchs, and the super-intriguing "Strange Reef Creatures." These Galleries strip away the textual descriptions of the animals and provide luscious eye-candy showcasing the color variations found among species (I LOVED the scorpionfish headshots!). The colors are so rich and the details are so amazing in these photos, that you'll wonder if this is a taxonomic guide or an underwater photography how-to. Oh...that's right...it's both!

Underwater photographers will find A Diver's Guide useful for several reasons. First, the photo tips the Ferraris include should help divers increase the quality and size of their personal portfolios. Second, even only a few minutes with the book will provide the underwater photographer with an understanding of what kind of marine life is likely to be found in a given location. This doesn't just mean "in the Red Sea," though; since the Ferraris provide information about where on the reef an animal is likely to be. Third, A Diver's Guide will help photographers label their images correctly. Fourth, some of the tips -- while not directly related to imaging -- may be wise for the underwater photographer to bear in mind anyway. For example, the inexperienced photographer might be less inclined to wag a finger in front of an uncooperative pufferfish after reading that they "are quite capable of severing a human finger."

Inevitably, readers will compare A Diver's Guide to Paul Humann's Reef Fish books. While they're similar in many respects, I think A Diver's Guide is far more beautiful. Frankly, the Ferraris have produced a guidebook that's as much for browsing as it is for referencing. As proof, I submit to you my non-diving wife. As soon as she saw the book on the counter, she grabbed it, sat down, and began leafing through it. Every 20 seconds or so, she'd mutter, "Oooh, have you ever seen a [insert name of fish] before?" She was totally rapt by the images.

Sure, you could buy a local marine life guide covering the specific area you might be diving next Christmas, but no marine guide in the world will excite you with this much color, thrill you with this much variety, and fascinate you with this much information. This is an absolute must-have for any diver who has eyes and plans on using them while diving.

every thing you need to know......., 07 Aug 2001
I recommend this book to anyone intrested in sharks and other marine life......excellent book, includes brilliant photography.

Saved by Captain Johnson?, 03 May 2006
If you are a fan of Defoe and want to read about pirates and their cutlasses then this is the book you need. It was published under the name of Captain Charles Johnson, no doubt to protect its author from the retaliation of ones such as Captain Avery - then in England - whose case the book deals with first. Avery had had a play written about (or by) him called The Successful Pirate, and a book called The King of the Pirates, and A General History of the Pyrates is a scathing attack against their pretentions. Because of his history as a pirate Avery would not have been able to visit the naval records office to check up on his adversary, hence the security and reason presumably for the name. Subsequent research in the naval records have shown that no such fish as Captain Charles Johnson had existed. His name is fictional.

The American Defoe scholar John Robert Moore identified it as being Defoe's and it certainly adds to his tally of great works.


A very good source, 11 Mar 2005
If you are at all interested in the age of piracy, this book is a must for you. It is just about contemporary - 1724 - with all the big names in piracy - Black Bart, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, amongst many others and also includes the two famous women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read - and there is a really authentic ring about the text. It is occasionally a bit tedious, but at the same time, the details that Capt Johnson - whoever he was - goes into give you a real feel for the period and the characters. I think it is excellent.

Like a tasteless fishstick, 05 Oct 2007
Cod could have been a good book but the author, Mark Kurlansky, seems intent on driving home his point that the cod fish has been vital through the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Mr. Kurlansky isn't afraid to exaggerate or in some cases simply twist the truth in order to make this point. I can't speak for the entire book since I am not an expert on the entire history that he covers, but I can point out a couple of blatant errors. "How did the Vikings survive in greenless Greenland", Mr. Kurlansky asks on page 21. Cod is his answer. But that is incorrect. Greenland was not "greenless" when the Vikings settled there. As a quick trip to Wikipedia shows, Greenland was much warmer at the times the Vikings settled there. "These remote communities thrived and lived off farming, hunting and trading..." Not a single mention of fishing for cod. The second serious error of fact has to do with the Pilgrims. The author claims that the Mayflower was heading to New England for the rich cod fisheries. This is not true. The Pilgrims were actually headed 250 miles further south to the mouth of the Hudson River and only ended up in New England because of bad weather, lack of reliable maps, and illness on board ship. The book "Mayflower" doesn't even have an index entry for "cod" which would seem fairly unlikely if the fish was really as important as Mr. Kurlansky makes it out. These are two very serious errors and leave the entire book open to question. Looking through the reviews on Amazon I found quite a few small errors mentioned. Is any of Mr. Kurlansky's remaining history reliable?

What about the book in general? It is what is best called pop-history. Short chapters that mention a topic but go into depth on nothing is the rule. A perfect example is his discussion of the three cod wars between Great Britain and Iceland. You will find very little detail on a topic that could have been very interesting. Instead Mr. Kurlansky moves quickly through the wars apparently to keep to his sixteen-page chapter limit. We don't even get a detailed chapter on the star of the book, the cod. A simple fact such as that cod is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids isn't even mentioned. And there are also many examples of contradictions within the book. For example, on page 145 Mr. Murlansky says that the Icelandic fishermen avoided basing their boats in the fjords because they used oar-powered boats and it "would have added too many hours or rowing time to and from the fishing grounds." But a couple of sentences later he says the fishermen preferred to use oars "because the winds around fjords are erratic." If the fishermen aren't traveling through the fjords then why are the winds in the fjords even relevant?

Overall, the book is lightweight, quick reading that will be forgotten soon after reading. The book is not much like the many interesting cod recipes that Mr. Kurlansky sprinkles through the book but more like processed fish sticks produced by factory ships.

One of the most fascinating books I've ever read, 31 Aug 2007
Completely engrossing, and completely convincing, like a bolt of lightning suddenly illuminating a whole area of history. It explains how basque fishermen discovered America centuries before Christopher Culombus but kept it quiet because they didn't want anyone finding the source of the fish they supplied to Europe and Africa. There's a wonderful section on how holier than thou American puritans made fortunes out of doc, rum and slaves. And the ending is beautifully poignant. It's such a shame that the world has changed so much that there's no room for the fish that changed the world.

Great read , 07 Aug 2007
For anyone interested in either the fishing industry or in historical world politics this is a great and very easy read.

The author coevers in detail the importance of cod in the development of european North America. He does however somewhat overplay this importance. There were other aspects of North Americal produce that were of equal importance, and were equally hard fought over e.g. skins, cotton etc.

The book is interspersed with many intriguing recipes, which are certainly most tempting. For those uninitiated, I can heartily confirm that the choicest meat is indeed found on the head of the fish - that which in modern times is generally reduced to animal feed.

I feel the author could have improved his book greatly by covering also the history of the European cod fishery - which was almost entirely ignored.

Nevertheless, a great read. Now I'm off to read "Herring"

I loved this book, 27 Dec 2006
I red it for my degree in Biological Sciences. At that time I borrowed it but now I gonna buy it for myself as I find this is a very special book. The writting is simple and beautiful. You might eat fish differently afterwards! but at least you'll get some inside about what's going on with fishery, fishermen communities and marine ecosystems - and this all along with World History. Not only the forest disappears. What about climate changes and fishery? This book is a delice.

Fascinating, 12 Jan 2006
An intriguing mixture of history, sociology, politics, conservation and cooking!

This book charts the history of cod fishing from the dark ages to the present. The Basques were apparently the first peoples to fish cod commercially and as such they beat even the Vikings to North America by exploiting the rich fishing grounds off the east coast.

There is discussion of the ways that different people in Europe liked their cod. Here in Britain it is eaten almost 100% fresh (or at least fresh frozen), whilst in other countries they would not touch fresh cod, the French wanting only salted fish. Presumably this is historical due to the problems of transporting fresh fish over any great distance.

In North America the Basques got lost in the shuffle because they never bothered to lay territorial claims to the land around their fishing stations, and we get a dispassionate description of the “Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK, untainted by propaganda.

But the theme that runs through the book is over fishing. From the early days when the fish stocks were believed to be inexhaustible to the present when commercial sized fish are all but extinct in many areas of the North Atlantic. There is the bewilderment and anger of the fishermen, who blame anyone but themselves for the state of their fishing industry and the restrictions that have had to be imposed upon it.

The book is interspersed with cod recipes down the ages. Some are pretty disgusting to me; we don’t eat the intestines in the UK! Others I’m going to try just as soon as I can get my hands on some good fresh fish.

Hubris , 17 Dec 2008
This is a serious, and understatedly well written work on a sentinel species* whose majesty and mystery humans have only glimpsed at, hence our arrogant and criminally sad attempts to bottle the Beluga whale genie in fresh water in the nineteenth century.
* sentinel because if/when the last whale expires or is harpooned for cat food, humans will really be staring into the abyss.

A Leviathan of a Book (boom, boom), 16 Nov 2008
Superb. Not being a fan of whales, I picked this up on a whim. But Hoare brings his topic to life like noone else. We are treated to a succession of regional histories, some personal reflections, a running treatment of Melville's Moby Dick and its context, several beautifully reproduced etchings and statistics that amaze and confound. Inevitably, given the size of the book, there are narrative sags and occasional repetitions. But this is a beautiful book that repays revisiting, not to mention dipping in and out of simply to be reminded of how awesome Leviathans really are.

A whaley good book - sorry!, 23 Sep 2008
This is a heartfelt and poignant book that details the authors deep respect for these giants of the sea. Part scientific description, part history of whaling, part travelogue and with several diversions to Moby Dick, this book shatters myths yet manages to divulge loads of new facts and interesting stories. Beautifully illustrated, this an extremely well laid out book, and for a hardback, remarkably light, which I think is important as it can be read on the train.

Well worth a look for any nature lover, anyone with even a passing interest in the sea, and anyone who just wants to read a darn fine history and travel book, this must encourage you to read and help you understand Moby Dick a book I have never read but certainly intend to do so now.

Really good introdution, 21 Jul 2003
This book is aq really good introdution to the life in the oceans. I recently used this book for a module in my Oceanography degree and it was really helpful. I also recommend this book for Marine Biologists as well.

Covers more species in total than "Red Sea Reef Guide", 09 Sep 2008
From the books about coral reef life in the Red sea I have seen and used this one, Coral Reef Guide Red Sea by Lieske & Meyers (2004), has the best coverage of species and groups I have wanted to identify. The closest alternative, or complement, I know about now is "Red sea reef guide" by Helmus Debelius (2 ed 2000 - 5 ed 2007). The latter has almost 900 scientific names in the index, compared with around 1800 for this one (but some of these are genera, families, classes and other group names). The weights and sizes of these books are almost the same (384 pages vs 321 in Debelius). Almost all species in Debelius book seem to be included in this book. Apart from Debelius book the closest competitor to me seem to be "Reef fishes and corals of the red sea" by Harrison and Misiewicz (2000), which has some good text and pictures but covers about 250 species only.

To provide some examples, Lieske and Meyers book has 30 pages about Cnidarians (corals and more) vs Debelius 5 pages. Fishes, reptiles and mammals are covered in 212 pages for around 600 species, vs Debelius 223 pages for slightly fewer species. If you are interested also in sponges, algae and seagrasses the choice is simple - 16 pages in Lieske and Meyers and none in Debelius. For Molluscs the figures are 40 vs 48. Counting pages can be misleading of course: for cone shells (a mollusc group) I prefer this book over Debelius, not only because it shows 13 species vs 3 in Debelius, but also for more informative descriptions. There are other species or groups where Debelius provides more details.

So, if you are interested in everything visible at the coral reefs of the Red sea, you surely want both this book and others. But if I had to choose one, it would be this one. For the next edition I would be happy to see even more species included.

An excellent guide for underwater enthusiasts, 27 Jun 2007
A really good detailed book for anyone who wants more information on the underwater species in the Red Sea. I am really impressed. The photos are clear and better than the drawings you get in many fish guides. The book also covers corals and mammals as well as fish and is very comprehensive.

The best for Red Sea divers, 07 Jun 2007
Simply put, this is the best guide to the marine life of the Red Sea available today. Great images, reliable identification, clear and interesting texts, enormous scope, handy size, reasonable price - what more could one ask? Divers and u/w photographers planning to visit this specific area cannot do without it - one of its authors, Robert Myers, has also produced another landmark in area-specific marine life guidebooks, the incredibly complete Micronesian Reef Fishes.

Indispensable guide, 13 Sep 2005
My partner and I took this book to Sharm El Sheikh for our first underwater excursion in the Red Sea. We used it everyday! It's full of great photos of fish and, by the time we came home, we could identify lots of different types of fish, coral etc. It also has information about the fish so that when you're looking at them you know a bit about them which I think is important. It tells you which fish are dangerous as well and how to stay safe. It enhanced my trip immensely and I would recommend it to anyone with a love of the natural world.

A Diver's Guide to Reef Life, 17 Sep 2007
A Diver's Guide to Reef Life

Comment by Stephen Wong, Marine Wildlife Photojournalist

I used to believe that biologists (or people who knew much of science) did not make the prettiest images, while dedicated photographers were merely trying to paint aesthetic pictures but didn't know a lot about the scientific part of their subjects. I am sure the biologists could shoot extremely well but they just didn't have the time to create the pretty photos, as their time spent would be doing much research in lab and field. At the same time, wildlife photographers could be stellar ecologist but simply lack the proper background training to discuss seriously the scientific side, or the photographers could know in-depth biology on only a few subjects but not many. Gee, am I wrong! "A Diver's Guide to Reef Life" by Andrea & Antonella Ferrari has changed my stereotypic perception.

This 480-page 16cm X 18cm book delivers a wealth of scientific knowledge plus a full load of exquisite images. There must be at least 828 species (I counted) of the more encountered and diver-interested marine creatures' discussed and over 1,200 species of animals deftly composed in the book. Not only the general distribution and sizing of the subjects are talked about, the animals' individual habitats and their intrigue life habits are discussed. The ID shots for the `science' section are more than adequate as the pictures clearly show the species' colors, shapes and unique features so that viewers can immediately locate and relate to. The life habits section and the galleries (many beautiful images) are my most favorite. I am learning a lot from these two areas, plus from the underwater photo-tips that the Ferraris stated in each family introduction.

Besides the more popular diver-quested subjects, such as sharks to the jeweled pygmy seahorses, the book also covers subjects that may be of less interest to most divers, like the corals, sponges and sea squirts. Though these are not talked in-depth, the authors have used ample images to let the readers compare to what they see in their dives - a criteria for a good guide book. The Ferraris also have dedicated a small section on the dangers that the ecosystem now faces and suggested a list of `Don'ts' for everyone to help to preserve the fragile reef.

"A Diver's Guide to Reef Life" is a book that makes nature lovers learn more about the denizens of the seas and the relationships with each other. With interesting marine science balances eye-savvy images, be the book placed on the shelf for educational purposes or bringing it on dive locations for reference, I highly recommend the book for everyone and all resorts.

An essential book for any diver's library, 18 Jun 2007
ANDREA AND ANTONELLA FERRARI have spent years amassing the photographs and information contained in A Diver's Guide to Reef Life, and it shows.
With 1200 tropical species, ranging from coral polyps, gorgonians, sea squirts, sponges, nudibranchs and all of the main fish groups, this is a truly comprehensive work, and probably the only reef guide most divers will need to take with them on a trip.
Covering the Red Sea, Indo-Pacific and many Caribbean species, the book comes in a handy, almost square format with just three species per page, allowing good-sized images of high quality.
The authors describe each species carefully, and where possible give information on behaviour to assist with identification. For example, the reader learns that the orangeband surgeonfish (Acanthurus olivaceus) "can switch its main body colour from dark olive to tan to dark blue in seconds" and that there are 40 different species of triggerfish. One section shows juvenile specimens of some of the commonest fish, demonstrating how unlike their adult forms they can be.
Photographically, Reef Life is excellent, with every shot a genuinely representative view of the animal or fish described. The book also contains a good general introduction to coral-reef ecology, and titbits of information are spread throughout the text: "94 million tonnes of fish are now taken globally each year, compared to 19 million tonnes in 1950."
The Ferraris also produced the Macrolife Guide to Underwater Malaysia, in my opinion the best of its kind. Now they have created an indispensable companion volume that will serve every diver well.
Tim Ecott is the author of Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World


A rare decent book with a global scope, 06 Jun 2007
As a marine biologist as well as an author and photographer of marine life books, I am very selective in my choice of those that end up on my shelf. I am particularly critical of books with a global scope as these invariably include only a small fraction of what lives in any particular area. These books usually include only what the photographer happens to have good photographs of rather than what is important. This book is an exception as the authors have included many excellent photographs taken by others. In doing so the authors have managed to pull together 1200 of the most important and interesting species, all with concise information on distribution, habitat and behavior. No book of this kind is immune from misidentification, but this one has fewer than most. It's a keeper. For those in the w. Pacific who want to dig deeper, please also check the following: Micronesian Reef Fishes: A Field Guide for Divers and Aquarists

Extra-emely useful, 06 Jun 2007
I am the British owner and operator of a scuba-diving company in Bali, Indonesia and we have several copies of this book available for dive staff and divers to use as reference.

That said, this is more than simply a 'reference' book. I don't think I've ever opened it to look for one particular fish/nudi/whatever and not found myself flipping through the pages. They've even included Mola-Mola (Oceanic sunfish)!

The pictures are well-shot and very clear, whereas in some "ID" books the photos are a little unappealing.

The info for each entry is succinct and useful. The "zoom" pages are informative and, while there's no 'dumbing down', are relatively easily understood by people's whose first language is not English which is useful for us.

No book can be all things to all people but an indication of how frequently the books are used for reference is that we have had to get them rebound several times. (Nothing against the quality of production, they're good quality books!)

If you're particularly "into", say, nudis, then buy a nudi book but as an overall ID book, with a fair amount of extra info thrown in, I'd recommend this.

A quick survey of my dive staff produced comments that included "very good - please buy more!" to "extra-emely useful".


A terrific book for divers wanting more from their dives., 20 Apr 2007
A Diver's Guide to Reef Life is an amazing reference guide detailing 1200 tropical species from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific. With over 1300 eye-popping photos, the book covers everything from corals to mammals, from reptiles to bony fish. More than just a photo album with lots of pretty pictures, the Ferraris write with as much authority on the skeletal components of coral polyps, for example, as they do on a shark's countershading. If you can rip yourself away from the crazy kaleidoscope of ima