V knige Marka Kurlanski skromnaya treska stanovitsya glavnym personazhem mirovoy istorii. Radi treski yevropeytsy nachali peresekat' Atlantiku - i imenno blagodarya treske stol' dal'niye plavaniya stali vozmozhny. Iz-za treski velis' voyny i nachinalis' revolyutsii, ona sluzhila osnovoy ratsiona tselykh narodov, ot neye zaviseli ekonomiki raznykh stran, i kolonizatsiya Severnoy Ameriki proizoshla vo mnogom blagodarya yey. Avtor znakomit chitateley s lyud'mi, ch'ya zhizn' tesno svyazana s etoy unikal'noy ryboy, - issledovatelyami, torgovtsami, pisatelyami, shef-povarami i, konechno, rybakami. On rasskazyvayet o treskovykh voynakh XVI i XX vekov, delitsya retseptami raznykh epokh i pokazyvayet nam samu tresku - yeye povadki, evolyutsiyu i, v konechnom schete, tragediyu. Treska stoletiyami kormila cheloveka, no teper' nuzhdayetsya v yego pomoshchi: zapasy ryby, kazavshiyesya neistoshchimymi, prakticheski issyakli.