| View Larger Image | Salt: A World History | Hardcoverby Mark Kurlansky (Author)
| List Price: | $28.00 | |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Walker & Company | | Page Count: | 484 Pages | | Publication Date: | January 01, 2002 | | Sales Rank: | 247,274th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. Today we take it for granted; however, as Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates in this world-encompassing book, salt-the only rock we eat-has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. Until about 100 years ago, when modern geology revealed how prevalent it is, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities, for without it humans and animals could not live. Salt has often been considered so valuable that it served as currency, and it is still exchanged as such in places today. Demand for salt established the earliest trade routes, across unknown oceans and the remotest of deserts: the city of Jericho was founded almost 10,000 years ago as a salt trading center. Because of its worth, salt has provoked and financed some wars; it was, as well, a strategic element in the American Revolution and the Civil War, among other conflicts. Salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia and have also inspired revolution (Gandhi's salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India); indeed, salt has been central to the age-old debate about the rights of government to tax and control economies. The story of salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion, and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores. Few endeavors have inspired more ingenuity than salt making, from the natural gas furnaces of ancient China to the drilling techniques that led to the age of petroleum, and salt revenues have funded some of the greatest public works in history, including the Erie Canal and the Great Wall of China. Salt's ability to preserve and to sustain life has made it a metaphorical symbol in all religions. Just as significantly, salt has shaped the history of foods like cheese, sauerkraut, olives, and more, and Kurlansky conveys, in his saga and through 40 historic recipes-how they have in turn molded civilization and eating habits the world over. Salt: A World History is veined with colorful characters, from Li Bing, the Chinese bureaucrat who built the world's first dam in 250 BC, to Pattillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas who, ignoring the advice of geologists, drilled an east Texas salt dome in 1901 and discovered an oil reserve so large it gave birth to the age of petroleum. From the sinking salt towns of Cheshire in England to the ancient salt work in southern San Francisco Bay; from the remotest islands in the Caribbean where roads are made of salt to rural Sichaun province where the last home-made soya sauce is produced, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 46 reviews)
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Salt, a difficult topic by Nephron (Bucksnort, TN, USA)  2 Stars
November 20, 2009
You have to be a certain type person to enjoy reading about the history of salt. That said, this book has a lot of fascinating facts. However, they are poory tied together and it is very difficult to read this book in its entirety. I'll chalk some of it up to the difficulty of the topic. It looks neat on the bookshelf though.
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Salt: A World History by CJRW (Ct.)  5 Stars
September 07, 2009
Excellently written historical info. on the importance of a substance many take for granted. The writer links together, past and present and trails the manners in which salt has been gathered and it extreme importance in the rise and fall of nations!
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Anchovy pizza anyone? by lee jackson (pico rivera, ca United States)  4 Stars
July 25, 2009
Whilst reading Mark Kurlansky's "SALT: A WORLD HISTORY", when I would mention to someone what I was currently reading I would be met with a sort of dismissive, "Ooo-kay, well, whatever", sort of attitude. Then I would start rattling off some of the salt factoids that I had come across to show that the topic is somewhat more interesting than some of us might think. After all, most of us just take salt for granted and don't even think of where it comes from before it gets to the shaker on the table, as well as all the many uses people have had for salt throughout history. This book is liberally salted throughout with salt facts and stories and things related to salt. However, keep in mind that this is merely light easy reading that barely touches the surface of the topic. It is not a scholarly tome intended for research. As the author points out in his acknowledgments, the New York Public Library alone has over 1000 books about salt. This book is kind of a Reader's Digest version on the topic intended for entertainment and perhaps to tweak a curiousity to do further investigation. It's a fun read, but I kept craving salted fish while I was reading the book.
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Recommend for foodies and saltophiles by M. Hipp 5 Stars
May 18, 2009
I come with a bias; I am a foodie, a saltoholic and a history fanatic. Any of these types of people would get excited over this book.
This is a long book to be sure but very well written. Enthralling and endlessly facinating. It took me ten days to get through it with limited time to read but I looked forward to it every day... to the point of excitment about what I might learn the next time I was able to sit down with the book. I hated that I finished it and considered re-reading it immediately. Minor quibble, I got tired of the chapter names but they are informative.
Oh, one other thing. I have always refused to buy specialty salts like fleur de sel. After reading this book, I felt confident enough in my salt knowledge to start trying out the WORLD of salt. Believe me there is a world... a universe!
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Salt or other monopolies by DPaulHackett 5 Stars
May 12, 2009
"Salt" has a lot going for it. In terms of understanding today's money (read salt)( read oil), problems around the world. I found it very fascinating. Great read.
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