Customer Reviews

Book of the Basques

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I usually don't review books that have already been reviewed, but I think the customer below severely misjudged this book.

First of all, the reason why it doesn't go much beyond 1930 is because that's when it was published. British folklorist Rodney Gallop was a pioneer in the field of Basque anthropology and "A Book of the Basques" was one of the earliest (and remains one of the most readable) attempts to explain Basque culture to the English-speaking world.

Gallop inclined heavily toward the French side of the Pyrénées for two reasons. First, that's where he did most of his research. Second, as he points out in the book, the French Basque Country -- at least up to the time he wrote -- had always been much less heavily industrialized than its Spanish counterpart, making it much more ideal for an anthropologist's study. The ancient traditions of the Basques survived more intact in France and, additionally, the French Basques were more culturally "introspective" than their Spanish cousins; that is, they never played as prominent a part in the national life of France as did the Spanish Basques in Spain and its empire. Consequently, they remained much closer to their "roots", so to speak.

Unlike the reviewer below, I thought the book was extremely well written and a fantastic source of information on traditional Basque folklife. Gallop does quote a lot from French, but he wrote in a time when you weren't considered educated until you knew a little French. The book is divided into chapters on such aspects of Basque folklife as language and literature, folksongs, folkdance, proverbs, Basque houses, superstition and witchcraft, fishermen and corsairs (!), decoration, and that great game, "pelote". Additionally, the author discusses some of the many theories regarding the mysterious origins of the Basques, which, admittedly, is of less interest today than it was in 1930 (the Golden Age of bogus racial theories!).

Unfortunately, much of the book has to be shifted into the past tense today, since the traditional Basque folkways Gallop describes have grown more and more obsolete since he wrote. But as work of history, it's still a classic and is destined to remain one. A+

Although Mr. Gallop's cultural knowledge of the Basque's (at least the French Basques) was very in depth, The narration is dreary, pompous, and one-sided. The author concentrated on the French Basques while neglecting the Spanish. Another unfortunate point is that it did not offer anything after 1930. I see that progress has been made over seventy years by the Spanish Basques and all they have had to endure. It wasn't until the latter chapters of this book that the reader becomes interested. This subject is very dear to me and after extensive study I would consider other sources to learn about the Basques. Agur.