Customer Reviews

Salt: A World History

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Yes, Kurlansky is worth his salt as a writer, researcher and uncoverer of unknown facts about odd subjects. As he did with his previous non fiction books he has woven strands of information into an interesting tapestry, equal parts - enthralling history lesson and cultural voyage. The only problem is - at 450 pages and 26 chapters, with numerous visits to different cultures, countries, eras and rulers in an attempt to cover as many of the 14,000 uses that salt is known for - finishing SALT: A WORLD HISTORY leaves you in a brine of facts, but also very thirsty for a unifying theme or story and a more memorable read.

Certainly my knowledge of historical trivia is now seasoned with tidbits such as: the Anglo-Saxon word for saltworks being 'wich' means that places such as Norwich, Greenwich, etc, in England were once ancient salt mines; Ghandi's independence movement in India began with his defying the British salt laws, and the French levied taxes on salt until as recently as 1946.

A common theme in Kurlansky's books is that food is seen as a topic of historical interest. Here we learn about the role salt played in preserving cod, whale, ham, herring, caviar, pastrami, salami and sausage, and as it was with COD and THE BASQUE HISTORY OF THE WORLD this book is sprinkled throughout with recipes.

Salt is certainly an interesting subject; cultural history buffs will love this book and Kurlansky still has a humorous, easy, and very readable writing style; it's just that he probably could have salted away some of the facts without us missing much and he should have developed a flowing theme rather than one that was so saltatory.

This was a Christmas gift, and no sooner had I started to read it when I couldn't stop. I discovered, to my entertainment and education, that salt definitely isn't just something you sprinkle on your salad, along with the pepper. (Did you know the word "salad" comes from the Latin for salt?)

Mark Kurlansky's telling of the story of salt, its huge role in world history, is spellbinding. He manages to get the awesome early history of China, with its advanced, non-western technology, told in the context of the search for salt. From China, to Egypt, to Roman conquests, to the Carribbean salt pans, to Ghandi's mission in India, to early industry in upstate New York, salt was a leader. And now I know why gourmet sea salt from Brittany is gray.

Salt is one of those products, along with hunting weapons, and the earliest grains, that has guided human destiny. That's not hyperbole. Read this wonderful book and find out why!

After reading Mark Kurlansky's informative, yet disjointed book, I know more about salt than I ever would have known or might have cared to. While it's billed as a "history" of salt this book is really more like an encyclopedia. Digesting the facts about salt's ride through history, its effect on empires, its uses (and the best part....some great recipes!) takes some doing, but I give the author credit for his breadth of knowledge on the subject.

The problem with Mr. Kurlansky's book is his writing style. The narrative is confusing as he jumps from century to century, east to west, north to south without a clue as to where he's headed next. He's the "Where's Waldo" of the information trade. Good histories make sensible unions with their subjects, but "Salt, A World History" becomes a dot-to-dot puzzle without the lines that are needed to connect. Unfortunately, that often means putting this book down. I'm glad I read it and glad I finished it
but if the author is going to write a sequel on pepper I hope he can redefine his presentation.

While different than Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, this book should be equally, if not more, popular among "foodies" and history buffs alike. Kurlansky takes what now is an everyday commodity and reveals its astounding historical importance. Filled with fascinating facts -- (e.g. both "salary" and "salacious" come from the same root) -- Kurlansky tells a masterful -- and true! -- story of world history through the trail of single mineral. (Just a few of the characters who make an appearance are John Adams, Daniel Boone, Ghandi, Christopher Columbus, Captain Cooke, Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl, Kublai Khan, Louis IVX, Mao, Leonardo (Da Vinci, not DiCaprio) -- now what book can give you that cast of characters !)

By the way, there are about 20 wonderfully unique recipes in the book as well. This book is a wonderfully rich, hearty stew!

Kurlansky's book is interesting and easy-to-read (I think he has an excellent, very straight-forward, non-convoluted writing style). However, his book contains a lot of errors. For example: He has magnesium in light bulbs (it used to be in flash bulbs), and only nitrates in old-time gun powder (it also contained charcoal and usually sulphur). It's disconcerting to not know what else to believe. Also, I'm disapointed that none of the editorial reviews shown seem to address his errors.

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.

Cod was a delightful little book. Salt is not.

Problem #1. Salt sprawls. China, India, England. Sailing, cooking, chemistry. Too much information, no theme.

Problem #2. Cod had a narrative: we moved fromEurope to America, and from abundance to overfishing. Salt doesn't go anywhere, it just goes on, and on.

Problem # 3. Kurlansky doesn't know everything. Okay, nobody does but few people tackle Chinese statebuilding, Roman cooking, and American quarrying in the same volume. No wonder he botches lots of facts. Of course, Kurlansky is not an historian. This shows. One small example: He explains that Egypt led the ancient western world in food preservation methods because, confined to a narrow strip of fertile land along the Nile, the Egyptians worried constantly about crop failure. Wrong. Not only wrong, but backwards. Egypt led the world in food preservation because it had the richest, most productive, and far and away the most reliable agricultre in the known world. It was plenty, not fear of dearth, that enabled Egyptians the luxury of developing preserving techniques that enabled them to enjoy a wide variety of exotic and out-of-season foods.

Problem # 4. It lacks charm. I mean, if it's not fun to read, what's the point.

Cod was fun to read, but throw this one back. There are lots of better books on the shelves.

Mark Kurlansky takes the reader on an extensive journey through history to chronicle the life of salt. All the way from Ancient China to today, the amount of information presented is quite impressive. I never would have thought there could have been so much information or history regarding such a humble seasoning. Not only has salt sustained many economies throughout the world, not only has it been battled over, but it has also, quite literally, changed the face of the earth, through collapsing salt mines and brine wells. Mark also includes many recipes throughout the book, representative of the times in which the text is exploring. A couple of the more notable recipes include one for a Salt Cod Apple Pie, and a recipe for ham that was used by Thomas Jefferson's family. The most intriguing thing I learned, though, is that even today, salt is made basically the exact same way it was made thousands of years ago....either by mining solid salt, or by boiling brine or seawater. While the book can be a bit slow in parts, overall, it was interesting, and definitely worthwhile reading for any foodie or history buff.

We pick up the salt shaker and spice our food, or avoid the shaker like the plague, but usually don't give a second thought about the salt. Sure, we learn about the use of spices and salt to preserve food in the past, but we don't appreciate the political and sociological role salt has played in world history. Kurlansky has taken up the task and written a very readable and enjoyable history of the world and how salt has played a role. Salt taxes and control of the salt trade were more important for political and economic reasons than I realized. Countries rose and fell and filled their treasuries through salt. Salt was an instrumental player in Gandhi's independence movement in India. The gastronomic role is amply portrayed by quoting recipes and food writing throughout the ages. Salt is a mover as well as a shaker.

The book sometimes is hampered by the author's scope - he wants to focus on salt used for eating but has to open the door to other forms of salt used for gunpowder, and de-icing. These asides say "well there is more but we're not going to touch that really," and limit the history portrayed in the book. He also spends a lot of time bringing the past alive, but once he treats the 20th century in the last part of the book, the story bogs down and goes a bit flat. It would have been nice to expand and look more at the sociological and economic impact the anti-sodium movement of the 20th century had upon the salt economy. Overall he seems to say that as modernization came into play, salt got less interesting, and that is reflected in the interest level of his writing.

Despite this, the book is very interesting look into something that we take for granted in our lives today.

In this book, Kurlansky attempts to do for salt what he did for cod in his book about the fish the changed the world. Salt seems a broader topic, though one whose historical impact is less unified. This gives the book a rather disjointed aspect, as though we need jump through each culture's perspective and history in making, acquiring and using salt. While various themes do emerge, Kurlansky seems more taken with the project of finding interesting and flavourful anecdotes to fill the pages and hold the reader's interest. He is mostly successful, from the story of prehistorical miners perfectly preserved in salt to the role that salt played in the development of American history. There are very few bases that he does not appear to touch, but nevertheless the story is never quite so cohesive as to justify this especially meandering approach. Despite this, I have been annoying my friends and relatives for weeks with the sorts of salty nuggets that Kurlansky often uncovers. There are, it seems, a million and one things you can do with brine. Unfortunately, Kurlansky never really develops a sense of what is magical and special about salt - it's transformative properties. Why does it preserve so well? Why does it change dull food into the gourmet? And why this particular fascination with salt through human history? Kurlansky often seems like an accountant searching for something valuable along the salt trail. He often succeeds and these stories can be quite fascinating, but unlike his history of cod, the story never comes together. The history of salt is really just the history of a chemical and though in many respects it is fascinating in its own right, its own right is really not as expansive or inclusive as Kurlansky would have us believe.

These complaints are not, however, quite so deep as they sound. The book is consistently interesting and well-written throughout. Kurlansky has mastered clear and articulate non-fiction writing. He never stays too long on a subject, and finds interest in each of his digression. I would recommend his book on cod and his excellent, if uneven, collection of short stories before tackling this one, but it is, in the end, certainly worth getting to.