- Published: 1 April 2003
- ISBN: 9780099281993
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 496
- RRP: $27.99
Salt
The magnificent story of how a common rock has shaped civilization.
Homer called it a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. As Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates here, salt has shaped civilisation from the beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. 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.
From the rural Sichuan province where the last home-made soya sauce is made to the Cheshire brine springs that supplied salt around the globe, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of world history, a multilayered masterpiece that blends political, commercial, scientific, religious and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.
- Published: 1 April 2003
- ISBN: 9780099281993
- Imprint: Vintage
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 496
- RRP: $27.99
This is an extraordinary little book, unputdownable, written in the most lyrical, flowing style which paints vivid pictures and, at the same time, punches into place hard facts that stop you dead in your tracks. A compulsive read.
Sir Roy Strong, Express on Sunday
An entertainingly anecdotal and lovingly partisan history.
Independent
History, reportage, travel writing, wisdom and recipes - entertaining and enlightening.
Sunday Times
Refreshing and invigorating, full of fascinating facts.
Independent on Sunday
