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roseleaf24's review
3.0
This got a little long and slow at times, but overall, a fascinating look at world history. This book traces the history of salt, extremely commonplace now, but once a main source of commerce. It's incredible how instrumental a role salt played in points in history we are familiar with. Rome, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, Ghandi.
aggressive_nostalgia's review against another edition
I’m honestly really surprised and disappointed by how boring I found this. I suspect the problem is less the content and more the style/format – this feels a bit like it should be a series of articles rather than a book. Kurlansky often gets very technical, sometimes unnecessarily so in my view, which can really dilute the “story” aspect of the history.
bea_reads78's review
2.0
A history of the production, trade, and use of salt around the world with a focus on political and economic impacts. Though it is popular history, not academic, I wish there were footnotes because many bold claims are stated without context or evidence, and when I looked some of them up online I found there is considerable academic disagreement (especially in early sections of the book on archaeology, ancient history, through the Middle Ages). The author also does not attempt to pull out any greater themes, instead organizing the book by region and chronicling the progression of salt production, which is pretty dry for 450 pages. Almost total lack of information on Africa.
sallyavena's review
5.0
While I really liked the historical information provided and actually enjoyed the book as a whole, I found myself wondering at the simplicity of religating all of the worlds problems to salt. It seems that all majors wars, empires falling and social upheaval can be blamed on salt,the lack thereof or the control of it. To me that is just taking a simple road to explain the worlds problems. While I do acknowledge that salt is important (I have raised animals in my lifetime), I don't think that is the only problem. It was interesting to see things like the Revolutionary War, French Revolution and Civil War from the view of salt and salt production. Interesting that the influence of salt seems to have taken a back burner in the 20th century.
alishamay1305's review
4.0
For a book about salt, it has the loveliest dedication I've ever read.
'To Talia Feiga, who opened worlds while she slept in the crook of my arm.'
'To Talia Feiga, who opened worlds while she slept in the crook of my arm.'