Salt: A World History

Author: Mark Kurlansky|See more titles by Mark Kurlansky

List Price:$22.00 You Save: $4.40 (20%)
Online Price:$17.60

irewards Member Price:$16.72

Usually ships in 1 - 2 weeks

< close and return to chapters.indigo.ca

Shortcovers.com is our digital reading partner.

chapters.indigo.ca and Shortcovers are separate websites.
In order to complete your eBook purchase, you will need to create
a new, free account at Shortcovers.com

next time I select an eBook, don't show this pop-up

Buy it used from $10.62

Prices updated daily. May not reflect current price, depending on availability.

Average Customer Rating

19 ratings

Community Reviews

1 review

write a review

Looking for a hard-to-find book? Try searching our Used & Rare section. + See details

About this Book

Format:Trade Paperback

Published:October 15, 2002

Publisher:Knopf Canada

The following ISBNs are associated with this title:
ISBN - 10:0676975356
ISBN - 13:9780676975352

From the Publisher

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Cod comes the dramatic, human story of a simple substance, an element almost as vital as water, that has created fortunes, provoked revolutions, directed economies and enlivened our recipes.

Salt is common, easy to obtain and inexpensive. It is the stuff of kitchens and cooking. Yet trade routes were established, alliances built and empires secured - all for something that filled the oceans, bubbled up from springs, formed crusts in lake beds, and thickly veined a large part of the Earth's rock fairly close to the surface. From pre-history until just a century ago - when the mysteries of salt were revealed by modern chemistry and geology - no one knew that salt was virtually everywhere. Accordingly, it was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history. Even today, salt is a major industry. Canada, Kurlansky tells us, is the world's sixth largest salt producer, with salt works in Ontario playing a major role in satisfying the Americans' insatiable demand.

As he did in his highly acclaimed Cod, Mark Kurlansky once again illuminates the big picture by focusing on one seemingly modest detail. In the process, the world is revealed as never before.

From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Mark Kurlansky is the author of The Basque History of the World and of Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, which won the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing. When not travelling, he lives in New York City.

From the Hardcover edition.

Other Editions

Format	List Price	Online Price
Audio Book (CD)	$54.95	$36.26

From the Critics

"Kurlansky continues to prove himself remarkably adept at taking a most unlikely candidate and telling its tale with epic grandeur. Salt: A World History reveals all the hidden drama of its seemingly pedestrian subject…. an immensely entertaining read." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Stylishly written and wonderfully learned … William Blake famously suggested that the world was to be seen in a grain of sand; Kurlansky has seen it in a grain of salt." -- The Observer

"Mark Kurlansky's almost 500-page opus on earth's only edible rock is the stuff of which epics are born…." -- Zsuzsi Gartner, The Globe and Mail, Saturday, January 26, 2002

"In Salt, Mark Kurlansky, who charmed readers with an entertaining volume on the codfish, turns to a chemical that is essential to human life….darned interesting…. Kurlansky gives us entertainment…. At its best, this is a "wow!" book: roving, startling, engaging." -- Sidney W. Mintz, The Washington Post, Sunday, January 27, 2002

"Only Mark Kurlansky, winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing for Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, could woo readers toward such an off-beat topic of Salt: A World History...Throughout his engaging, well-researched history, Kurlansky sprinkles witty asides and amusing anecdotes. A piquant blend of the historic, political, commercial, scientific and culinary, the book is sure to entertain as well as educate." -- PW Daily, Friday, Nov. 16

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Cod: A Biography Of The Fish That Changed The World

| Mark Kurlansky

List Price: $22.00

Online Price: $17.60

In Stock

+ See Details

Cod: A Biography Of The Fish That Changed The World

The Big Oyster: History On The Half Shell | Mark Kurlansky
Nonviolence: The History Of A Dangerous Idea | Mark Kurlansky
1968: The Year That Rocked The World | Mark Kurlansky
Sugar | Elizabeth Abbott

From The Community

Who's Listing it as a Top Ten

This item has not yet appeared in a Top Ten List - be the first to create a list using this item!

Who's Blogging

This item has not yet appeared in a Post - be the first to post about this item!

Average Customer Rating:
Reviews from the Community1 Review

Write a Review

Linden Wiebe
It's Okay

2 years ago

It is impossible to read this book and not learn something. It is filled with fascinating information. The only problem is that Mark Kurlansky is lacking as a writer and the presentation of the material leaves much to be desired. Thank god I was interested in the topic or I would have been unable to finish it! It's interesting and all, but there are other interesting things out there that are much more readable. (Such as John Vaillant's "Golden Spruce" or Carol Off's "Bitter Chocolate.")
- add a comment
- Was this helpful? yes no yes no
- report this