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  • Fishing

  • How the Sea Fed Civilization
  • By: Brian Fagan
  • Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
  • Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

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Fishing cover art

Fishing

By: Brian Fagan
Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

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Publisher's Summary

In this history of fishing - not as sport but as sustenance - archaeologist and best-selling author Brian Fagan argues that fishing was an indispensable and often overlooked element in the growth of civilization. It sustainably provided enough food to allow cities, nations, and empires to grow, but it did so with a different emphasis.

Where agriculture encouraged stability, fishing demanded movement. It frequently required a search for new and better fishing grounds; its technologies, centered on boats, facilitated movement and discovery; and fish themselves, when dried and salted, were the ideal food - lightweight, nutritious, and long-lasting - for traders, travelers, and conquering armies.

This history of the long interaction of humans and seafood tours archaeological sites worldwide to show listeners how fishing fed human settlement, rising social complexity, the development of cities, and ultimately the modern world.

©2017 Brian Fagan (P)2017 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

"Gently scholarly, elegant.... A compelling picture of how fishing was so integral in each society's development. A multilayered, nuanced tour of 'fishing societies throughout the world' and across millennia." ( Kirkus)

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Great on Audiobook

As an avid fisherman, it was great to learn about the history of fishing and the methods used in various epochs and cultures.

This would have been a somewhat boring and arduous book to read, but it is perfect on Audiobook. Highly recommended.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.