Mark Kurlansky

Mark Kurlansky, the author, has worked on commercial fishing boats for several years. He has worked as a journalist for the Chicago Tribune and the International Herald Tribune. His work also has appeared in various national magazines including Harper's, Audubon, and the New York Times Magazine. Kurlansky also contributes a column on food history to Food & Wine. Kurlansky has previously published A Continent of Islands: Searching for the Caribbean Destiny, A Chosen Few: The Resurrection of European Jewry, The Basque History of the World, and Salt. Kurlansky does not appear directly in most of the book but is present during several interviews that open the book's initial chapters. He provides virtually no auto-biographical data beyond the cover blurb and what can be incidentally gleaned or inferred from the text.

John Cabot

Giovanni Caboto (c. 1450 - c. 1498) was an Italian navigator and explorer more commonly known in English...