1999; 359 pages. New Author? : No. Genres : World History; Spain; France; Non-Fiction. Overall Rating : 8*/10.
The Basques.
Like most people, I’ve heard of them, but don’t know much about them.
I vaguely remember them making
headlines back in the 1970s for killing Spanish policemen by remotely detonating bombs. So I’m pretty sure
the Basques are concentrated in some area of Spain.
They have their own language
too. It seems neat that they’re
maintaining their heritage, but jeez, if you live in Spain, shouldn’t you be
speaking Spanish? I also recall that
their language bears no resemblance to any other European tongue, which makes
it a mystery as to where they came from and when they showed up.
I’m a lover of History, so my
ignorance about the Basques is embarrassing.
Fortunately, one of my favorite History authors, Mark Kurlansky, wrote a
book on them, The Basque History of the World.
Let’s find out why the
Basques don’t like to speak anything but Basque.
What’s To Like...
Mark Kurlansky divides The Basque History of the World into three sections, namely:
Section 1 : The Survival
of Euskal Herria
Section 2 : The Dawn of Euskadi
Section 3 : Euskadi Askatuta
Those titles represent a
progression in the self-identity of Basques.
“Euskal Herria” means “the Land where Euskera (“Basque”) is spoken”,
and simply denotes a place. “Euskadi” is a word coined by a Basque nationalist,
Sabino Arana, and can be roughly translated as “Euskera speakers together”, and implying that
it is a country, not merely a location. “Euskadi Askatuta” means “Free
Basqueland” and recognizes that achieving an independent Basque
nation may necessitate a revolution.
Each section has an
introduction plus 4-6 chapters, and things close with a "Postscript" titled “The Death of a Basque Pig”. The book chronicles the Basque
history from the earliest writings about them (courtesy
of the Romans since the Basque ancestors left no written records) up
through the 1990s (the time of publication). A lot of the latter chapters go
decade-by-decade, starting with the 1930s; many of the earlier chapters use the clever template “The Basque Xxx” format (“The Basque Cake”, “The
Basque Whale”, “The Basque Beret”, “The Basque Ear”, etc.) to pique the reader's interest.
The Basque History of the
World nicely combines both historically important events, such as the importance of the math formula “4 + 3 = 1” and
the idiocy of witch trials, with
enlightening trivial tidbits, such as recipes
for cat dishes, which sounds yucky, but are useful when the Spaniards are besieging your city and you're starving. I chuckled when the renowned “Bilbo swords” were mentioned; they have nothing to do with Hobbits. I came away with a much greater appreciation as to what Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” masterpiece is all about, and was
sobered by the fatalistic Basque adage “una bache
mas, un cabron menos”, which I'll leave for you to look up the translation, or read this book.
Mark Kurlansky includes various maps, drawings,
and photos throughout the book. Some of the latter could use a bit of computer-enhancement, but maybe that’s just a printing issue with the paperback
format I read. The Index at the back of the book comes in handy, although it’s limited to proper nouns. Beyond the “basted cat” entrée already
mentioned, there are various other Basque culinary recipes mixed in with the
text . This is a Mark Kurlansky
trademark in the books he writes, and they sound delicious, but they are wasted on me since my cooking skills are
abysmal.
Ratings…
Amazon:
4.6/5
based on 438 ratings and 240 reviews.
Goodreads: 3.87/5 based on 4,409
ratings and 422 reviews
Kewlest New Word ...
Auto de fe
(n., phrase) : a public ceremony
during which the sentences upon those brought before the Spanish Inquisition
were read and after which the sentences were executed by secular authorities.
Excerpts...
By the sixteenth century, witchcraft should
have seemed a ridiculously old-fashioned accusation. In 787, Charlemagne had outlawed the
execution of witches and made it a capital crime to burn a witch. A tenth-century Church law, Canon Episcopi,
demanded that priests preach against belief in witchcraft as superstition. By the fourteenth-century, stories of
witchcraft were widely dismissed among educated circles as a primitive belief
of peasants.
But by the late sixteenth century, the
Canon Episcopi, which had been universal Church law, was being circumvented by
the claim that society was faced with a new and more virulent form of
witchcraft and therefore the old laws did not apply. (pg. 93)
The Basques are not isolationists. They never wanted to leave Europe. They only wanted to be Basque. Perhaps it is the French and the Spanish,
relative newcomers, who will disappear in another 1,000 years. But the Basques will still be there, playing
strange sports, speaking a language of ks and xs that no one else
understands, naming their houses and facing them toward the eastern sunrise in
a land of legends, on steep green mountains by a cobalt sea—still surviving,
enduring by the grace of what Juan San Martin called Euskaldun bizi nahia,
the will to live like a Basque. (pg.
351)
Revolutions are
always easier to admire from across the border.
(pg. 135)
The editing is good in The Basque History of the World; I only noticed two
typos: finely/finally and peeled/pealed.
As you’d expect of a Historical Non-Fiction tome, the text is incredibly
clean: just a single “damn” which got
in only because it was part of a direct quotation.
I did find one “fact” in the book
to take issue with. On page 138, the
author asserts that the word “honcho”
is of Basque origin, coming from their “jauntxo”,
meaning a wealthy, powerful, rural landowner.
Plausible, but every other etymological source on the Internet says "honcho" comes from the Japanese word “hancho”
meaning a group leader, and brought back to the US by servicemen stationed in
Japan. Methinks somebody in Basqueland
was pulling Mark Kurlansky’s leg.
Also, it should be noted that there
is a definite pro-Basque, anti-Spanish slant to The Basque History of the
World, particularly when the subject is the iron-fisted Spanish dictator,
Francisco Franco. I doubt that Mark
Kurlansky will offer any apologies for this, but I do recall one of the Basque nationalist
groups, the “ETA”, being classified as a
Terrorist Group due to the bombings they carried out against the
Spanish police back in the 70s.
8 Stars. Overall, The Basque History of the World gave me a much better understanding of history – both ancient and recent – of the Basque people, the Basque culture, the Basque heroes, and most of all, the Basque hopes for a country of their own. Such aspirations may or may not be realistic, but they certainly are inspirational.
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