This is my most-favorite non-fiction book. I find it fascinating and enjoy something new every time I read or listen to it.

I had no idea just how integral salt was to shaping world history. Fascinating to learn how attacking saltworks helped the North prevail and how Gandhi’s protests were based on access to salt production. Also the book was full of interesting cultural tidbits. But perhaps my favorite thing is that this book focuses on ALL cultures and not just the West, thoughtfully giving credit for innovation where credit is due.

3.7 stars. The book is a bit dry but when you get into the right mindset, a nice tour of history and the world through the lens of salt.

I really wanted to like this book. Lots of interesting facts but it read like a textbook. No one in my book group could finish this.

Very interesting read. Took me some time to get around to getting through it, but mostly because that's just how my brain works, and I started reading this during the busy part of the farm season which left me very little time for 3 months, to enjoy reading. So I read this in little bits and pieces. And that's actually the great thing about this book. You don't have to read it every day. You could read a chapter, forget about it for weeks. Go back read another. Not many books you can do that with!

I give it a 4/5. I can't, however, imagine any way the author could have written this topic better. If you like history. If you enjoy niche history, and little facts thrown in here and there, and how it all relates to the development of many nations, with random recipes thrown in, and sporadic divergent discourse, you'll love this. Have some patience, because there is some really fascinating information in here, and I encourage everyone to read it. You will discover the insanely massive role salt played in our past, and still plays to this day. Not just to our diet. But our economy. From wars to famines. Salt has had a role to play in every facet of society. You will also learn about the dark side of things. The environmental destruction of past and present. Of animals wiped out, or very nearly so. You will learn about nuclear waste, to my horror. You will learn so much, you will probably forget most of it! But that is the joy of a book burgeoning with fascinating information, and why I love having a physical copy to flip back and forth in!

Took me a while to finish this as I said, but I very much enjoyed it. Some will probably find the detail a bit frustrating at times. Some will accuse it of being boring. It can get a bit tedious at times if you lack attention span or patience, both of which I often lack. This isn't really a criticism of the book, more a criticism of the people too impatient to simply enjoy it for what it is: A wealth of fascinating information and history on everything relating to salt! If you find it boring, move on. Or take your time. Read a little bit here and there. Each chapter can be pretty much enjoyed on its own. But as a whole, it really comes together to provide a vast historical perspective I certainly never imagined having!

All roads all over the world? Salt.
Discovery of America? Salt.
Gandhi? Salt.
Human survival? Salt.


Pretty damn fabulous. My favorite parts were the recipes especially the ones where you put fish and salt in a box and bury them for three months until they are frothy! Yum!