Book Review | Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

For a guy who literally looks like the Dos Equis man, Mark Kurlansky has managed to find some of the least interesting subject matter I could imagine and turn them into full histories. Whether it’s salt (this one), cod (1988), oysters (2005), or the Basques (1991)…well, okay. A history of the Basques sounds like it has some potential.

My point is: Kurlansky seems to look around for the driest subjects and then to begin to research the heck out of it. And yes, he really does look like the Dos Equis man. “Stay thirsty, my friend.”

And let me tell you, reading Salt: A World History made me thirsty. And hungry. Between examining the long and storied history of salt over the millennia, Kurlansky peppers the text with recipes in which sodium chloride plays a major, if not crucial, ingredient. Here we see pickling, preservation, and flavoring, and yet, we should not think that Salt: A World History is aimed at the culinary inclined. Kurlansky looks at geography, the rise of civilizations, and the placement of forts.

Mark Kurlansky

His book is fascinating, including all sorts of salt-related trivia, from the beginnings of Tabasco Sauce to a scheme to introduce camels in the American west’s deserts to how salt came to be both common and perfectly granulated. From the location of Roman military depots near salt deposits to the role a shortage in salt played in bringing about the end of the American Civil War, Kurlansky is all over the map.

However, if there is a critique to be made, then it is this all-over-the-map-ness that seems to typify Kurlansky’s style. Running from ancient to modern times, Kurlansky doesn’t seem to follow a single cohesive narrative, with sections starting and stopping without apparent reason or cohesion. It doesn’t detract from the value of the information, but Salt: A World History does make for an occasional dry and eclectic read.

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Title: Salt: A World History
Author: Mark Kurlansky
Genre: History
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release Date: January 28, 2003
Pages: 496

In his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky 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, Salt by Mark Kurlansky is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.