Rating: 
Summary: A surprisingly interesting history of something small
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch your SALT intake
Review: Where oh where was the editor when Mr. Kurlansky submitted his book. Salt has a long history but did Mr. Kurlansky think he needed to take us through every century with every bit of the minutiae of Salt's history? After awhile I began to edit the chapters as I read and I saw how easily Mr. Kurlansky's book could have become the readable and not the painful book it was...It seemed that every fact whether concerned with Salt, sugar or cinnamon made it's way into this book. At the end he was even compelled to tell us when the miner's safety hat was
invented...STOP please stop...this book can contribute to high blood pressure for the reader.....
Rating:
Summary: An off-beat look at history
Review: Where would we be without salt? Certainly our french fries would be blander, but actually salt has had a critical role in our history as Kurlansky describes in this uneven but generally good book. In a roundabout way, we are taken from ancient times to the present and throughout the world to see how salt has had an impact on our civilization. At one time so valuable that people were paid with it (from which we get the salt-based word salary), salt was essential for preserving food in an era before refrigeration. It was a cause of wars and a factor in victory and defeat. The book's biggest flaw is that it is not well-organized. Although generally moving from past to present, Kurlansky skips back and forth in time and place in a somewhat aggravating manner. In a non-fiction work, the reader should have a better sense of direction. In addition, at times Kurlansky overstates the importance of salt: certainly, salt helped dictate where cities would be located, but it is not the dominant factor he makes it out to be; other items such as water and wood also played a role. Overall, however, this is a decently written and informative book, an off-beat way to look at history. Even if it meanders a little too much, it does eventually get to its destination and you will be educated and entertained in the process.
Rating:
Summary: An off-beat look at history
Review: Where would we be without salt? Certainly our french fries would be blander, but actually salt has had a critical role in our history as Kurlansky describes in this uneven but generally good book. In a roundabout way, we are taken from ancient times to the present and throughout the world to see how salt has had an impact on our civilization. At one time so valuable that people were paid with it (from which we get the salt-based word salary), salt was essential for preserving food in an era before refrigeration. It was a cause of wars and a factor in victory and defeat. The book's biggest flaw is that it is not well-organized. Although generally moving from past to present, Kurlansky skips back and forth in time and place in a somewhat aggravating manner. In a non-fiction work, the reader should have a better sense of direction. In addition, at times Kurlansky overstates the importance of salt: certainly, salt helped dictate where cities would be located, but it is not the dominant factor he makes it out to be; other items such as water and wood also played a role. Overall, however, this is a decently written and informative book, an off-beat way to look at history. Even if it meanders a little too much, it does eventually get to its destination and you will be educated and entertained in the process.
Rating: 
Summary: Kitchen Confidential X Two
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Worth his Salt
Review: 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.
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