Product Description

Homer called salt "a divine substance", while Plato described it as "especially dear to the gods". Kurlansky blends political, commercial, scientific, religious and culinary records into this history of the substance which he claims shaped civilization from the beginning.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #634306 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 484 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Very early in his book, Kurlansky refers to an essay by the psychoanalyst Ernest Jones on man's obsession with salt. Whether or not man, in general, has an obsession with salt may be debatable. That one man in particular--Mark Kurlansky--has, is made more than clear by this unusual and enjoyable book. He seems to have set out to put between the covers of one volume every single fact about the history of man's relationship with salt that he could unearth. How the Ancient Greeks salted their tuna. Why the Mayans used salt as a medicine in healing rituals. The story of the great salt merchants of China. The French tax on salt and how its injustice contributed to the French Revolution. Why Gandhi chose salt as a symbol of the Raj's oppression. Kurlansky ranges through the centuries and across the world to tell the story of salt. As a prize-winning food writer he is particularly good on the ways salt has shaped our eating habits and once again, as in his earlier book Cod, he seasons his text with recipes he has come across in his research. In the course of 450 pages the reader may occasionally feel that here is a book that tells one more about salt than one wants to know but, for most of those pages, Kurlansky's enthusiasm, knowledge and style create an engrossing tale.--Nick Rennison

Review of Cod from The Express on Sunday
'An extraordinary little book, unputdownable, a compulsive read.'

From the Publisher
Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. As Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates in his world encompassing new book, salt has shaped civilization from the beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. So valuable that it has often served as currency, and still does in some places today, salt inspired the earliest trade routes across unknown oceans and the remotest deserts. Wars have been fought over salt, and while salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia, they have also inspired revolution, Gandhi's salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India. Veined with colourful characters, salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores. Salt revenues have funded some of the greatest public works in history, including the Port of Liverpool, while salt's abilty to preserve and to sustain life has made it a metaphorical symbol in all religions. Just as significantly, as Kurlansky, an award winning food writer, relates, salt has moulded eating habits and cultures the world over.

Customer Reviews

An unremarkable book
What should have been an interesting subject is handled in a confused and somewhat tedious way in this book. Apparently re-using a substantial amount of material from his previous books on Cod and The Basques the author meanders selectively through history failing to gather sufficient interesting facts together sustain his 400+ pages. That he is not a scientist is also woefully apparent as he persistently fails to clarify the difference between the term "salt" in its specific common usage (for table salt), and the generic term "salt" as used by chemists which covers thousands of compounds, some of which are covered briefly and inadequately here.

Overall, a disappointment.

Interesting, but not fascinating
In this monumental work, author Mark Kurlansky traces the history of salt. Beginning with ancient China, he then goes through pharonic Egypt, Rome, Europe, the United States, India, and back to modern China. Along the way, he discusses salt, how it's made, and what's made with it. If you want to know about salt through the ages, then this is the book for you.

That said, though, this thick book just seems to ramble along without any true theme. It covers everything about salt, but does it in a long-winded manner, which often allowed my attention to meander off, in search of more meaningful topics. If you are interested in salt, then I cannot imagine a more perfect resource for you. Overall, I give this book a somewhat guarded recommendation.