Salt

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | THE BOOK BEHIND THE VIRAL TIKTOK

One tiny rock. One epic history.

"A must-have for any serious cook or foodie."—Anthony Bourdain
"This is a "wow!" book: roving, startling, engaging.” —Washington Post
“Kurlansky finds the world in a grain of salt.”—New York Times Book Review

An unlikely world history from the bestselling author of Milk! and Cod

You’ll never look at salt the same way again. The only rock we eat, salt has shaped civilization from the very beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of humankind. A substance so valuable it served as currency, salt has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions. Populated by colorful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

Salt: A World HistoryIntroduction: The Rock
Part One
A Discourse on Salt, Cadavers, and Pungent Sauces
Chapter One: A Mandate of Salt
Chapter Two: Fish, Fowl, and Pharoahs
Chapter Three: Saltmen Hard as Codfish
Chapter Four: Salt's Salad Days
Chapter Five: Salting It Away in the Adriatic
Chapter Six: Two Ports and the Prosciutto in Between
Part Two
The Glow of Herring and the Scent of Conquest
Chapter Seven: Friday's Salt
Chapter Eight: A Nordic Dream
Chapter Nine: A Well-Salted Hexagon
Chapter Ten: The Hapsburg Pickle
Chapter Eleven: The Leaving of Liverpool
Chapter Twelve: American Salt Wars
Chapter Thirteen: Salt and Independence
Chapter Fourteen: Liberté, Egalité, Tax Breaks
Chapter Fifteen: Preserving Independence
Chapter Sixteen: The War Between the Salts
Chapter Seventeen: Red Salt
Part Three
Sodium's Perfect Marriage
Chapter Eighteen: The Odium of Sodium
Chapter Nineteen: The Mythology of Geology
Chapter Twenty: The Soil Never Sets On . . .
Chapter Twenty-One: Salt and the Great Soul
Chapter Twenty-Two: Not Looking Back
Chapter Twenty-Three: The Last Salt Days of Zigong
Chapter Twenty-Four: Ma, La, and Mao
Chapter Twenty-Five: More Salt than Fish
Chapter Twenty-Six: Big Salt, Little Salt
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index