LA281 The Long View: "Salt: A World History," by Mark Kurlansky

Salt: A World History is a "brilliant, multi-layered" work of narrative non-fiction that transforms a common tabletop condiment into the central protagonist of human civilization. Mark Kurlansky traces the global impact of sodium chloride—the only rock humans eat—from the dawn of recorded history to the modern era, revealing how the quest for this "white gold" has shaped empires, ignited revolutions, and dictated the patterns of human settlement.

The narrative moves fluidly across continents and centuries, detailing how salt’s unique preservative qualities allowed for the first long-distance trade and exploration. Kurlansky explores its role in diverse historical turning points: from the building of the Great Wall of China and the financing of the French Monarchy via the hated gabelle tax, to its central role in the American Revolution and Gandhi’s 1930 Salt March against British colonial rule. Along the way, he provides a "fascinating cabinet of curiosities," including ancient recipes for garum, the development of salt-cured cod and ham, and the complex chemistry of how salt interacts with the human body.

Written with a "dry wit and an eye for the telling detail," the book is a meditation on how a substance we now take for granted was once the world’s most sought-after commodity. A strong discussion angle for the group is Kurlansky's "micro-history" approach—how focusing on a single, mundane object can provide a more vivid and honest understanding of global history than traditional political or military narratives.

Winner of the 2003 James Beard Foundation Award for Writing on Food.

Due to the unusually large interest in "The Long View"'s last book, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, we had an unusually large waitlist of people who wanted to join but could not. Priority registration for this book discussion will go to them, and people on this waitlist will get priority registration for the next book discussion. 

General registration opens on Thursday, 12 March.

This book is 496 pages long.