And then there are the books where they just absurdly overrate the impact. This isn’t a real one, but an example is if you did a book on oil and said, “The Fossil Fuel That Changed the World.” I mean, no kidding. I don’t think I want to just trash these people! But I have, yes. Have you ever received one that seemed ridiculous? I blurbed a pretty good book about meat called Meathooked. The empires he discusses were not formed by a search for gold, silver, or other precious commodities, but for salt, which was accessible to everyone.I blurbed a nice book, not at all like my book The Big Oyster, called The Essential Oyster. Kurlansky also invites the reader to ponder the question of why something as abundant as salt has been treated as if it were a precious, scarce resource. The central question of Salt is how something that is often viewed as a simple ingredient could have had such influence on past societies, and how salt helped shape modern-day life. The final third of the book concerns the ways in which ancient economies founded on salt persist into modern day, and catalogs the inventions and innovations that have resulted as byproducts of producing salt, and searching for it. Gandhi made the oppressive salt tax of the British Crown a symbol of his defiance, and encouraged his followers to do the same. In the next section of the book, India gains its independence from British rule after a long struggle that involves the peaceful demonstrations of Gandhi. Kurlansky charts the course of the French Revolution, which led to the overthrow of the French monarchy, and its relationship to salt.

In Europe, a hated salt tax known as the gabelle was having a similar effect on rebellious elements who were tired of government oppression. Combined with unjust taxation on salt and other commodities, this gave rise to the American Revolution. Salt shortages, followed by a salt inequity, caused great deal of unrest in America. Rome would not be responsible for innovating methods of salt production or refinement, but would expand the scale of the salt industry to a degree previously unknown.Īfter outlining the realities of the cod market in the 17th century, Kurlansky gives the history of salt in what would become America. When they were conquered by the Romans, Rome absorbed the salt apparatus that they had constructed, expanded them, and reaped the profits. The Gaul and Celt tribes were responsible for the drilling and excavation of primitive salt mines. Because meat could not be eaten on fast days, of which there were many, the meat had to be preserved, which was accomplished by curing with salt. Meat was the primary source of food-fish and beef. Salt in the Middle Ages was a staple of Europe.

Salt by Mark Kurlansky