SYNOPSIS
Salt was written by Mark Kurlansky and was published in 2003 by Penguin Books. This non-fiction novel tells the rich history of the world through the viewpoint of Sodium Chloride- common table salt.
A substance that is frequently taken for granted today, salt was a driving force in human activity for thousands of years. The author explains, "Salt—the only rock we eat—has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind."
(from the publisher):
The story of salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion, and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores. Few endeavors have inspired more ingenuity than salt making, from the natural gas furnaces of ancient China to the drilling techniques that led to the age of petroleum, and salt revenues have funded some of the greatest public works in history, including the Erie Canal, and even cities (Syracuse, New York). Salt's ability to preserve and to sustain life has made it a metaphorical symbol in all religions. Just as significantly, salt has shaped the history of foods like cheese, sauerkraut, olives, and more, and Kurlansky, an award-winning food writer, conveys how they have in turn molded civilization and eating habits the world over.
Salt is veined with colorful characters, from Li Bing, the Chinese bureaucrat who built the world's first dam in 250 BC, to Pattillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas who, ignoring the advice of geologists, drilled an east Texas salt dome in 1901 and discovered an oil reserve so large it gave birth to the age of petroleum. From the sinking salt towns of Cheshire in England to the celebrated salt mine on Avery Island in Louisiana; from the remotest islands in the Caribbean where roads are made of salt to rural Sichaun province, where the last home-made soya sauce is made, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.
OTHER SUMMARIES
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/960/salt
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-salt/
http://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619
http://www.avclub.com/review/mark-kurlansky-isalt-a-world-historyi-6670
Salt was written by Mark Kurlansky and was published in 2003 by Penguin Books. This non-fiction novel tells the rich history of the world through the viewpoint of Sodium Chloride- common table salt.
A substance that is frequently taken for granted today, salt was a driving force in human activity for thousands of years. The author explains, "Salt—the only rock we eat—has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind."
(from the publisher):
The story of salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion, and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores. Few endeavors have inspired more ingenuity than salt making, from the natural gas furnaces of ancient China to the drilling techniques that led to the age of petroleum, and salt revenues have funded some of the greatest public works in history, including the Erie Canal, and even cities (Syracuse, New York). Salt's ability to preserve and to sustain life has made it a metaphorical symbol in all religions. Just as significantly, salt has shaped the history of foods like cheese, sauerkraut, olives, and more, and Kurlansky, an award-winning food writer, conveys how they have in turn molded civilization and eating habits the world over.
Salt is veined with colorful characters, from Li Bing, the Chinese bureaucrat who built the world's first dam in 250 BC, to Pattillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas who, ignoring the advice of geologists, drilled an east Texas salt dome in 1901 and discovered an oil reserve so large it gave birth to the age of petroleum. From the sinking salt towns of Cheshire in England to the celebrated salt mine on Avery Island in Louisiana; from the remotest islands in the Caribbean where roads are made of salt to rural Sichaun province, where the last home-made soya sauce is made, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.
OTHER SUMMARIES
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/960/salt
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-salt/
http://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0142001619
http://www.avclub.com/review/mark-kurlansky-isalt-a-world-historyi-6670
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