Salt

Salt: A World History. Mark Kurlansky. 2003. Penguin Books. 494 pages. [Source: public library.]

I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into when I picked up Salt, but what I got was quite literally a world history of salt. At its core, this book asserts that “since the beginning of civilization, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history.” I can’t say I’ve ever put that much though into salt beyond its use as a condiment.

Salt is not meant to be a sexy book, but it captured the complexities of salt with more appeal than I expected. I would assume that most people think about salt for its culinary uses, and Kurlansky pays a lot of attention to how different cultures used salt for maintaining food supplies with limited technologies. By the end of the book, though, I was tired of reading about salted meat and fish. Salt is good for more than just cooking, though, so Kurlanksy gave examples of various cultural or local practices that made salt significant – these included burial practices and transportation uses.

There is a significant focus on methods of gathering salt, from early solar evaporation of brine to more modern drilling. While not the most provocative of topics, Kurlanksy uses the development in production methods to underscore how salt was used to prop up socioeconomic inequality across every society examined. These tied into the larger picture of how salt was used as a financial commodity. I found this aspect of the book to be most compelling as it spun salt through some of the most significant world events of recorded history. Control of salt sources was often as political as economic, and Kurlansky highlighted salt’s role in colonialism in Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean. Understanding how societies developed or collapsed as a result of salt abundance or scarcity was a welcome surprise, as was the look at how societies were shaped by the exploitation of just one natural resource.

While Salt is both interesting and informative, it’s also long. I suspect the same depth and quality of information could have been achieved with more intentional editing. I also found the recipes dispensable. While these illustrated techniques for how various societies used salt and or recipes for which salt was a significant ingredient, they also felt cumbersome and redundant after a few chapters.

I found Salt to be an enjoyable, if not lengthy, read. It’s best enjoyed in spurts, as I often found I needed a break after a few chapters to cleanse my reading palate. Nonetheless, it’s a different lens through which to look at ancient and modern society and how the control of one resource was integral to every culture, for better or for worse.