Kurlansky, Mark

Examines the role the codfish has played in world history; tells of explorers, merchants, writers, chefs, and fishermen whose lives have been intertwined with the once-abundant fish; provides details about the personality, life, and habits of the cod; and discusses attempts to save it from extinction.

A biography of Clarence Birdseye, the American inventor, discussing work as a fur trapper in Canada early in the twentieth-century, his patented Birdseye freezing process that changed the way we preserve, store, and distribute food, and the other inventions that he created.

Illustrations, sidebars, and maps tell the story of the history of salt, how it shaped ancient civilizations, and its influence on the world today.