Description

Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling writer of Cod and The Basque History of the Planet, here turns his focus on a typical household item with an extended and intriguing history: salt. The only real rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the beginning, and its story is just a glittering, often surprising area of the heritage of mankind. 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 full of an unending number of fascinating details, Kurlansky's kaleidoscopic history is just a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.