On the Basque History of the World

This is classic Kurlansky, with both the good and the bad. The good is that it’s highly readable and at times entertaining, perfect for a popular audience. The bad is that he spends a bit too much time “exoticizing” Basque people, making them seem somehow inherently different than any other group in the world. Of course, all groups of people are different, and Basque origins are shrouded in mystery—we don’t even know what language family the Basque language belongs in, but Kurlansky’s approach runs the risk of making them “other.”