by Mark Kurlansky - £10.99 Vintage (2003)
paperback
ISBN 13: 9780099281993 | ISBN 10: 0099281996
Homer called it a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. As Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates here, salt has shaped civilisation from the beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. Wars have been fought over salt, and while salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia, they have also inspired revolution - Gandhi's salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India.
From the rural Sichuan province where the last home-made soya sauce is produced to the Cheshire brine springs that supplied salt around the globe, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of world history, a multilayered masterpiece that blends political, commercial, scientific, religious and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.
"A wide-ranging historical survey with an endless supply of fascinating facts... a compelling read."
(Guardian)
(Price & availability last checked: June 2018)
In booklists: World History,
In categories: History & Biography,
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