Salt

ANew York Timesbestselling Kurlansky fan favorite, celebrating its 25th year: The unlikely history of the world through a grain of saltnow with a handsome new package and foreword.

Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. Today we take it for granted: a common substance that seasons food and clears ice from roads. But as Mark Kurlansky relates in his classic book, saltthe only rock we eathas shaped civilization from the very beginning.

Throughout history, salt has been so valuable that it has served as currency, and its ability to preserve life made it a common religious symbol. Demand for salt established the worlds earliest trade routes; salt inspired ingenuity from natural gas furnaces in ancient China to drilling techniques that led to the age of petroleum. All the while, salt has shaped food history by way of cod, cheese, olives, and nearly all our groceries today.

Kurlanskys belovedSaltis a kaleidoscope of history that blends economic, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich tale. At its 25th anniversary, were reminded anew of this beloved rocks glittering role in the history of humankind.