by Mark Kurlansky
ISBN: 978-0-099-28413-0
First published 1999
359 pages
Publisher: vintage-books.co.uk
Cover illustration by Nikolai Punin
5 / 5 Stars
The story of a people that has never had its own nation-state and yet has thousands of years of history.
They sailed the Atlantis, not only the Bay of Biscay. They could have found America before Columbus. Did you know the majority of Columbus’s sailors were from Basque lands? Because they had the experience of long distance journeys.
Perhaps they found it before the Vikings? Although no records exist.
Modern Basquedom is a recent creation, going back only the last two centuries. Previous to that time, Basques had been content to provide armies and soldiers whenever called for, but otherwise have little to do with the goings on in other kingdoms, certainly not paying anyone any taxes.
The book also exposes the terrible hypocrisy and judgement of Felipe Gonzalez. He created a secret organisation to fight the Basque terror group ETA, and thus commit atrocities in the name of preventing more atrocities. In June 2020, the CIA declassified information confirming that Felipe González had authorised the creation of the GAL.
However, the future is bright for the Basque country. Their language continues to develop and spoken more widely than ever before. A wonderful place to visit, if ever you can.
I leave you with this comment, from Pierre Lhande-Heguy, 1st secretary of the Basque Language Academy
“To be a true Basque, three things are required: to have a name which bespokes Basque origin, to speak the language of the descendants of Aïtor, and to have an uncle in America.”
Did you know that the Basque flag, the ‘Ikurrina’ was made up?
By Luis Arana Goiri b.1862 in Bilbao – d.1951 in Santurtzi
The Eclectic Book Review 