Herring Tales: How the Silver Darlings Shaped Human Taste and History. By Donald Murray. Bloomsbury Publishing; 272 pages; $26 and £16.99.
THE herring is hardly the grandest of fish, but as a cheap source of protein it is hard to beat, and herring-fishing was a way of life for many communities around the North Atlantic from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century. Trade in the fish made merchants wealthy. In Scotland herring are known as “the silver darlings”; in Norway they are called, even more lovingly, “the gold of the sea”.
A new account of the herring industry by Donald Murray, a journalist and poet, has almost as many facets as his slippery subjects have scales. His tale offers fillets of history, culture and zoology, with an emphasis on the eclectic—not to say wilfully eccentric. Yet his approach faithfully reflects our relationship with Clupea harengus, which has never been straightforward.
Part of the herring’s attraction for mankind lies in its sociability. It forms vast shoals, a trail of silver below the ocean’s surface that is irresistible for fishermen. But this is...
from The Economist: Books and arts http://ift.tt/1hDenqS
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