Salt

From the Bestselling Author of Cod and The Basque History of the WorldIn his fifth work of nonfiction, Mark Kurlansky turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history salt The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind 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 filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt by Mark Kurlansky is a supremely entertaining, multi layered masterpiece.Mark Kurlansky is the author of many books including Cod, The Basque History of the World, 1968, and The Big Oyster His newest book is Birdseye. Read Salt – kino-fada.fr I was very non plussed by this book Kurlansky does not do a very good job of presenting his topic In my opinion he was just throwing out about any facts he could find about salt In a way he ties it together He discusses how ancient Chinese used salt how northern Europeans used salt how salt was mined etc I got that salt is a major natural resource that is the basis for cuisine and culture throughout the world, but I was still asking myself the question, And Kurlansky left me wondering I was very non plussed by this book Kurlansky does not do a very good job of presenting his topic In my opinion he was just throwing out about any facts he could find about salt In a way he ties it together He discusses how ancient Chinese used salt how northern Europeans used salt how salt was mined etc I got that salt is a major natural resource that is the basis for cuisine and culture throughout the world, but I was still asking myself the question, And Kurlansky left me wonderingThe lowest po...Chris Lavers started his review of this book for the Guardian with speculation on how an author can get released from publisher s contract The publisher receives priority by including a first refusal clause on a second book You merely present your publisher with stunningly unappealing material If they choose not to publish, then you are free to go elsewhere A history of salt should work.Mostly, a foodie history with emphasis on the historical importance of salt for food preservation There Chris Lavers started his review of this book for the Guardian with speculation on how an author can get released from publisher s contract The publisher receives priority by including a first refusal clause on a second book You merely present your publisher with stunningly unappealing material If they choose not to publish, then you are free to go elsewhere A history of salt should work.Mostly, a foodie history with emphasis on the historical importance of salt for food preservation There is some discussion of industrial uses like embalming in Egypt and other parts of Africa The sections about cod and Basque fishing were familiar from reading Cod A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World and The Basque History of the World The Story of a Nation Until the first invention by a Paris cook, Nicolas Appert, the Father of Canning, most food preservation was salt The Vitamin C in sauerkraut made it possible for early sailors to avoid...I read several chapters of this It was mind numbingly boring Lists, lists, lists of everything that has ever been done with salt What different countries, cultures and times have done with salt The word salt in many different languages That old thing about salary being the precious salt that the Romans paid their military in, right I was praying for a relief from the tedium of this book But all I got was the odd not at all interesting anecdote I don t know how the rest of the book progre I read several chapters of this It was mind numbingly boring Lists, lists, lists of everything that has ever been done with salt What different countries, cultures and times have done with salt The word salt in many different languages That old thing about salary being the precious salt that the Romans paid their military in, right I was praying for a relief from the tedium of this book But all I got was the odd not at all interesting anecdote I don t know how the rest of the book progressed but I don t care either This was about as interesting as reading the long list of all the ingredients in a box of Twinkies where you can t pronounce half of them, have never heard of the rest and are only reading it bec... 97 161 , , , , , , , , , , 1352, , , , ,, ,, , , , , , , 1759 1775 1783 , , , , , 500 __________________________ , ,This book changed my life I picked it up because fiction novels were all looking the same to me, and because it was thick enough to last the long train ride from Dusseldorf to Maastricht School textbooks were the only non fiction I d ever read, and they had not prepared me for the v...This was the first so called commodity history that I ve read, and I m sorry to say it might have turned me completely off the damn things I m not entirely sure why this book is so popular and so widely read, since it strikes me as simply a series of stories by Mark Kurlansky that quickly settle into the same basic mantra, which is 1 Here is this culture 2 Like the twenty other cultures I have just introduced to you, salt was also important to this culture 3 These are the ways they gath This was the first so called commodity history that I ve read, and I m sorry to say it might have turned me completely off the damn things I m not entirely sure why this book is so popular and so widely read, since it strikes me as simply a series of stori...Well, I ll be pickled We say we ll take something with a grain of salt as if it s nothing, but much of the history of the world is tied up in the quest for salt It s not nothing We re fortunate to have it in such abundance that we can take it for granted and worry about getting too much of it in our diets For most of human existence that was not the case The material here is thorough and often fascinating, but you must have a strong interest in history if you hope to get through it Had I t Well, I ll be pickled We say we ll take something with a grain of salt as if it s nothing, but much of the history of the w...Mark Kurlansky is a historical writer who does what one reviewer referred to as the little big style of writing, that is to say, he takes something little and often overlooked and from it he spins out larger truths about society and the world To say that he does this well would be an understatement.Salt A World History, his fascinating history of this overlooked cooking seasoning, makes a couple very good points in its introduction Because of its current cheapness and easy availability, we Mark Kurlansky is a historical writer who does what one reviewer referred to as the little big style of writing, that is to say, he takes something little and often overlooked and from it he spins out larger truths about society and the world To say that he does this well would be an understatement.Salt A World History, his fascinating history of this overlooked cooking seasoning, makes a couple very good points in its introduction Because of its current cheapness and easy availability, we nowadays tend to forget that wars were fought, empires rose and fell, and fortunes were made and lost all on the basis of salt Entire buildings have been constructed of salt, methods of transportation have been begun for moving salt, religious rituals around the world make use of salt, and it is the only rock we eat.Nearly everyone I ve mentioned the book too gives me the same look A book about salt that look says How could that possibly be interes...I very much enjoyed this book on world history, roled like a ball of yarn around the role salt played in this history I think that different readers will enjoy different aspects of the book There is something for everyone I particularly enjoyed the sections on Chinese ancient history, on French salt production on Noirmoutier and Ile de R and also the perspective of how French salt taxes gabelle influenced the French revolution This was interesting becuase other books stress the role of th I very much enjoyed this book on world history, roled like a ball of yarn around the role salt played in this history I think that different readers will enjoy different aspects of the book There is something for everyone I particularly enjoyed the sections on Chinese ancient history, on French salt production on Noirmoutie...AIYIYI I just couldn t take this book I was determined to read it after I chose it for a challenge I had entered but my goodness was it a struggle I don t know if it was because I had just finished a textbook size of a book that was purely about science A Short History of Nearly Everything and was in major fiction withdrawal, or the fact that this book was breathtakingly boring, but I could literally not readthan 15 pages before I actually started to drift off into a deep slumber AIYIYI I just couldn t take this book I was determined to read it after I chose it for a challenge I had entered but my goodness was it a struggle I don t know if it was because I had just finished a textbook size of a book that was purely about scien...

• English
• 04 August 2017
Mark Kurlansky
• Paperback
• 484 pages
• 0142001619
• Mark Kurlansky
• Salt