Wars have been fought over salt and, while salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia, they have also inspired revolution - Gandhi's salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India.

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 colourful characters and filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.

'An entertainingly anecdotal and lovingly partisan history.' Independent. Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. As Mark Kurlanksy so brilliantly relates in his world-encompassing new book, salt has shaped civilization from the beginning, and its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind. So valuable that it has often served as currency (and still does in places today), salt inspired the earliest trade routes across unknown oceans and the remotest deserts...