Salt: A World History
Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlanskyby Mark Kurlansky
Shares rank 18 of 51 history books by recommenders
Readers call it fascinating and highly recommended, and it shows how influential salt has been in human history.
Readers call it fascinating and highly recommended, and it shows how influential salt has been in human history.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fascinating and highly recommended
“I just finished listening to the audiobook of Mark Kurlanskys Salt: A World History. Fascinating and highly recommended.”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Iron Age salt-mining complex found beneath Hallstatt in Austria” “Can confirm, it's a fantastic book!”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “Iron Age salt-mining complex found beneath Hallstatt in Austria” Shows how salt shaped history
“I never realized how influential salt was to the course of human history.”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “One of the largest salt mines in the world exists under Lake Erie” Other books by author praised
“Everything I've read by Kurlansky has been awesome.”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “One of the largest salt mines in the world exists under Lake Erie”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| Salt: A World Historyby Mark KurlanskyThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Can confirm, it's a fantastic book!”
“I just finished listening to the audiobook of Mark Kurlanskys Salt: A World History. Fascinating and highly recommended.”
“Everything I've read by Kurlansky has been awesome.”
“I never realized how influential salt was to the course of human history.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.