| View Larger Image | Salt: A World History | Paperbackby Mark Kurlansky (Author)
| List Price: | $16.00 | | Price: | $10.40 | | You Save: | $5.60 (35%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Penguin (Non-Classics) | | Edition: | Later printingth Edition | | Page Count: | 498 Pages | | Publication Date: | January 28, 2003 | | Sales Rank: | 2,896nd |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780142001615
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Kurlansky's kaleidoscopic history is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 114 reviews)
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This Is A Cookbook by David F. Mcginnis (Key West FL)  2 Stars
November 17, 2009
Salt has an interesting history of formation and useage. Unfortunately we get a lot of the one and very little of the other. Looking at Mr Kurlansky's publishing history, we see that he is a food writer and this explains a lot.
I liked his The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation. If "Salt" were more like Sand: The Never-Ending Story it would have been much better, for me.
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Half the book isn't about salt. by ichor (PacNW, USA)  3 Stars
September 28, 2009
If this book would have been cut in half (not the "first/last" halves, but rather section by section), it would have been much better. As it is, the history of salt is very interesting. The various unable-to-follow "recipes" thrown in from the various centuries - not interesting. Maybe as an appendix. The speculations of the importance of salt over the centuries...somewhat interesting, but it's not really what I imagined getting from this book.
Overall, it's the best (and only) book I've read dedicated to all things salt: geological, medicinal, political, mining, chemical, etc. There are simply too many rambling that have very little to do with the premise of the book. (Yes, I learned that ketchup used to be made from fish, then it made it's way to "tomato ketchup," and now it's just "ketchup." Interesting, but it's stretching the bounds of what should even be in this book.
I wouldn't discourage anyone from buying it, as long as they know that at times, it's a very tedious read. If I were to do it again, I would have read about twice as fast, since a high level of comprehension/understanding isn't really needed throughout the entire book.
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Enlightening but repetitve and drawn out near the end by Cristy L. Comstock 3 Stars
August 31, 2009
I found the first 2/3 of this book fascinating. But the last 1/3 was repetitive and drawn out; it felt like the author had exhausted his enthusiasm and was just going through the motions.
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Pleasant surprise by Gus Ho (Lost, USA)  4 Stars
June 18, 2009
This didn't sound very interesting by the title, but turned out to be fascinating. I really had no idea of salt's role in world history prior to reading this book. BTW, if in Poland, definitely visit the salt mine mentioned in the book, the tour is great.
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Full of flavor by Morning Star (Fort Meade,MD)  5 Stars
February 01, 2009
What a fabulous book! I never knew how important salt has been to human kind. The way history is interwoven with the mining,making and selling of salt is mind blowing. This book is truly a tasty way read and learn about the history of the world.
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