Book Description
Mark Kurlansky, the bestselling author of Cod and The Basque History of the World, here turns his attention to a common household item with a long and intriguing history: salt. 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, Kurlansky's kaleidoscopic history is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.
Customer Reviews:
A Whirlwind Tour of One of Mankind's Most Important Products!.......2007-09-23
This is a whirlwind historial tour of one of civilizations most important products!
A sustance so valuable, salt has served as currency, influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions.
The United States is both the largest producer of salt in the world and the largest consumer. It produceds more than 40 million metric tons, earning more than $1 billion in sales revenues.
Author Mark Kurlansky writes that fashionable people are divided into two camps. The first is passionate about staying healthy and eating less salt. The second is pasionate about salt.
Like all his books, Kurlansky's "Salt" is endlessly interesting and informative.
Exceptional non-fiction.......2007-09-09
I read very little non-fiction, but this book was so full of interesting facts that it was almost impossible to put down. Kurlansky's account of mankind's quest for salt and the commerce it created is indeed a mini-history of civilization. The book is well written, easy to read, and holds the reader's interest from first page to last. I found myself reaching for it again and again to find out what happens next. Who would have dreamed that a common every-day product that we take for granted could have such a rich, varied history? Kurlansky did a wonderful job!
Throw It Over Your Left Shoulder!.......2007-08-28
Salt is a great subject for a book. Everyone is familiar with salt. It complements the flavor of food (as with French fries). It can be used to preserve foods (salted fish for example). It can be used to process foods (such as cheeses). It can be found in salt mines and in the evaporation of salt water. It is a commodity that can be bought and sold. It can be taxed by the government. And it can be exaggerated.
I'll give just one example. Midway through the book, the author states, "The history of the Americas is one of constant warfare over salt. Whoever controlled salt was in power." Think about that! The Declaration of Independence? -- Salt. The American Revolution? -- Salt. The Whiskey Rebellion? -- Salt. The War of 1812? -- Salt. The Mexican War? -- Salt. At least he did not say, "Give me liberty or give me salt!" Nonetheless, continued overreaching and exaggeration render the author's opinions unreliable and completely undercut the appearance of meticulous research. It is not long before the reader hears a voice in the back of his/her mind repeatedly saying, "I wonder if that is true?"
The book recites many interesting stories and presents novel perspectives of the role of salt in human society. However, as noted by many prior reviewers, the deficiencies of lack of organization, statements that are scientifically suspect and lack of historical reliability greatly detract from the potential of the subject matter. It is not a waste of time but there are better books out there.
An extraordinary read..........2007-08-15
Among the most thought-provoking books I have read...the impact of salt upon history is extraordinary.
A must-read for foodies and non-academic history buffs.......2007-08-11
I bought this book after it was recommended to me by a professor in a food-writing course. It sat on the shelf for more than a semester, as I had a full stack of books to get through for class. Then this summer a chef friend of mine finished it in about a day and started raving to me about it, so I figured it was time to crack it open.
It is one of the few books in the last year that I could not put down. I normally read several books at a time, skipping from one to another as my interest waxes and wanes. I finished this book in three days, and would have done so much faster if not for classes. Kurlansky's style is attention grabbing and well structured, and he kept me wondering where his narrative history of salt was headed next.
This book is an epicurean's history of the world, and as the title of my review states, I would recommend it to just about any fan of good food. It may not match up to the exhaustive standards of the work of strictly academic historians: but if it did, it would not be nearly as fun a read.
Kurlansky's research into Chinese salt practices was especially fascinating to me, and I have the feeling that with his skill he could devote an entire volume to that topic. I look forward to reading his book 'Cod', and anything else he writes.
Book Description
Homer called salt a divine substance. Plato described it as especially dear to the gods. Today we take salt for granted, a common, inexpensive substance that seasons food or clears ice from roads, a word used casually in expressions ("salt of the earth," take it with a grain of salt") without appreciating their deeper meaning. However, as Mark Kurlansky so brilliantly relates in his world- encompassing new book, salt—the only rock we eat—has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Its story is a glittering, often surprising part of the history of mankind.
Until about 100 years ago, when modern chemistry and geology revealed how prevalent it is, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities, and no wonder, for without it humans and animals could not live. Salt has often been considered so valuable that it served as currency, and it is still exchanged as such in places today. Demand for salt established the earliest trade routes, across unknown oceans and the remotest of deserts: the city of Jericho was founded almost 10,000 years ago as a salt trading center. Because of its worth, salt has provoked and financed some wars, and been a strategic element in others, such as the American Revolution and the Civil War. Salt taxes secured empires across Europe and Asia and have also inspired revolution (Gandhi's salt march in 1930 began the overthrow of British rule in India); indeed, salt has been central to the age-old debate about the rights of government to tax and control economies.
The story of salt encompasses fields as disparate as engineering, religion, and food, all of which Kurlansky richly explores. Few endeavors have inspired more ingenuity than salt making, from the natural gas furnaces of ancient China to the drilling techniques that led to the age of petroleum, and salt revenues have funded some of the greatest public works in history, including the Erie Canal, and even cities (Syracuse, New York). Salt's ability to preserve and to sustain life has made it a metaphorical symbol in all religions. Just as significantly, salt has shaped the history of foods like cheese, sauerkraut, olives, and more, and Kurlansky, an award-winning food writer, conveys how they have in turn molded civilization and eating habits the world over.
Salt is veined with colorful characters, from Li Bing, the Chinese bureaucrat who built the world's first dam in 250 BC, to Pattillo Higgins and Anthony Lucas who, ignoring the advice of geologists, drilled an east Texas salt dome in 1901 and discovered an oil reserve so large it gave birth to the age of petroleum. From the sinking salt towns of Cheshire in England to the celebrated salt mine on Avery Island in Louisiana; from the remotest islands in the Caribbean where roads are made of salt to rural Sichaun province, where the last home-made soya sauce is made, Mark Kurlansky has produced a kaleidoscope of history, a multi-layered masterpiece that blends economic, scientific, political, religious, and culinary records into a rich and memorable tale.
Customer Reviews:
Salt history is our history - quite a story.......2007-09-02
This is a truly enjoyable work that informs and fascinates. Who knew that the history of mankind was so closely tied to salt?
One example: the first trails made by animals returning to salt licks, and then by men hunting the animals.
Highly recommended.
Salt: A World History.......2006-07-24
A well written, interesting, fascinating book. I was constantly amazed at the extent of Kurlansky's research and the ability to make so many facts interesting and alive. This is really a history book seen through the eyes of salt but is no dry book full of obscure facts. This book has become one of the necessary classics in my library. Love it!!
Worth its weight in salt........2006-05-18
For the longest time, history in the Western genre was defined in terms of heroes (and the occasional heroines) and their nemesis. This "great man" version of history glorified individuals like Churchill, Caesar, Alexander, Napeleon, Washington, Constantine, Lincoln, Peter the Great, etc, etc... In the late 20th century, a new hot phrase has hit the social sciences: sustainable societies. Accompanied by recent advances in analytical techniques, scientists are now combing back through history with an eye on how human societies are affected by nature, and affect nature in turn. This in turn has spawned a new genre of historical literature that emphasizes man's relations to various objects in his natural environment. Typical works include "Guns, germs and steel", "History of the World in Six Glasses", "La Diva Nicotina", "Botany of Desire" etc, etc... A great example of this genre is this book by Mark Kurlansky, "Salt: A World History".
Written as a series of short chapters, this book traces the role of salt in the development of human societies around the world over the centuries. The book shows how the use of salt allowed food preservation to become entrenched within human society. This in turn increases survival rates of human communities throughout the whole calendar year, which in turn increased population densities and fostered the growth of culture. The book also shows how the importance of salt was reflected in its numerous uses; i.e money, signal of natural gas, etc...
Each chapter is readable in under an hour, and the whole book is readable in one weekend. The book is very interseting, and contains many interesting and often subtle facts. I highly recommend it.
Minor Fact Check .......2006-02-19
As a fan of this kind of history and a cooking enthusiast, I found this book very enjoyable reading, and would recommend it to anyone considering it.
I do have minor concerns about the factual accuracy of two of the tangential assertions or facts that Kurlansky offers. Not having any expertise I trust the core material of his book is factually accurate. However finding even a few small tangential factual inaccuracies detracts somewhat from that trust.
On p. 63 Kurlansky suggests that the latin word for salt was the etymological ancestor of the word soldier, but dictionary and online lookups suggest this is an error and that "soldier" actually derives instead from solidus, a Roman gold coin.
On p. 266 Kurlansky offers "...to George Edward Pickett, who later reached the most northerly point of any confederate in combat when, on July 3, 1863 he led a ruinous charge up a sloping Pennsylvania field -- the climax of the battle of Gettysburg." Even on the Gettysburg battlefield the point of Pickett's charge is by not nearly the most northerly point of the battle, and while Gettysburg was the most northerly "major" battle, it was not the most northerly (recognized) battle involving confederate forces. That is near Athens, MO. And various other sites contend for the distinction of being more northerly but less involved levels of engagement (e.g. Buffington Island; sites in the Dakotas; St. Albans, VT; Calais, ME; etc.)
Salterrific!!! Excellent read!!!!.......2006-01-03
Salt is well written... it opens with a short personal experience which hooked me.... the book covers the historical development/discovery/usage of salt... there is description on the various types of salt and how it is derived.... the author takes you on a globe trotting experince throughtout history...
if you are interested in history or books on everything about "one" thing ..then salt will appeal to you... I love this book!!!!! read it!!!!!! even if you hate reading!!!!
Book Description
In The Poet and the Murderer, acclaimed journalist Simon Worrall takes readers into the haunting mind of Mark Hofmann, one of the most daring literary forgers and remorseless murderers of the late twentieth century.
He was a young Mormon boy who loathed what he believed to be the hypocrisy of his faith, and who devised secret ways to infiltrate and undermine the church. Mark Hofmann began his career by forging and selling rare Mormon coins, and quickly moved on to creating false, highly controversial religious documents that threw the Church of Latter-Day Saints into turmoil. But it was his infamous Emily Dickinson poem that would prove his greatest deception, stunning the art and literary worlds and earning him thousands from the most distinguished Dickinson scholars. It would also prove his ultimate undoing, when his desperation to keep his greatest forgery a secret drove him to commit ever more heinous crimes-including acts of shocking violence.
Filled with the page-turning suspense and tantalizing sleuthing techniques of a literary thriller, The Poet and the Murderer gives us an unforgettable portrait of a deeply irreligious man and a brilliant con artist whose greatest talent-and greatest tragedy--was his ability to conceal his mad genius behind the unique gifts and enduring celebrity of others.
Customer Reviews:
Good read but I wanted more.......2007-04-01
Simon Worral is clearly an accomplished writer and his book, The Poet and the Murderer, demonstrates that skill. It's a fascinating story about a forger who earns a good living faking historical documents, mainly those that could be important to the Mormon Church. The reader learns a great deal about how document forgery is accomplished, about how little concern the nation's major auction houses demonstrate for the validity of what they put on the block, and about the roots of Mormonism.
The only problem with the book is that the story wanders around in interesting but not necessarily riveting detail --- detail that sometimes loses sight of the story line. What was auctioned off as a poem of Emily Dickinson frames the story in an opening that zeros in on the purchaser, Daniel Lombardo, then the curator of special collections for the Jones Library in Amherst, Massachusetts, the center of Dickinson lore.
The character who turns out to be a forger and murderer, Mark Hoffman, fails to come alive in the sense one can identify with him, or pity him or even be truly appalled by him. Raised a Mormon and obsessed by the church, he is portrayed as mechanical man. If his crime had been foreshadowed in greater detail, with a more sympathetic portrayal of the victims, I think the story would have held more of my attention.
But it is wrong to be too critical of Worral's work, which is an easy read. I just wanted more. That is not a bad way to leave a reader, but it does seem that more might have been available to Worral, more of what I wanted to know about Lombardo as well as Hoffman's victims. Finally I'd like to have footnotes on Worral's detailed analysis of the early years of Mormonism, or at least some citations of his secondary sources, so I could easily follow up where my interest was stimulated by this book.
Bad Midwife of a Story with GREAT Potential.......2006-10-09
The only reason I think this book warrants two stars instead of one is because at least Worrall had the sense to recognize a story rich with possibilities. His "Wikipedia" version, though, is disappointing. Worrall spends way too much time practicing cheap psychology, repeating cheesy pet phrases (ex. "Hofmann was beginning to sense the thin line separating reality from illusion"), and way too little time on the key elements of the tale. There are significant connections to be made from this intersection of poetry, Mormonism, and murder!! But he DOES NOT make them. It's still a fun read, but ultimately disappointing. I really wish someone with more scholarly dedication had written this book - it should have been about 500 pages long and intensively researched, and NOT dumbed down for the reader. See "Death of Innocents" for a good example of what true-crime nonfiction can be.
Terrific book - couldn't put it down.......2005-07-15
I read this in a couple of hours.
Fantastic book. Well written, well researched. Now I want to read a bio of Emily Dickinson.
It made a lot of people angry? Too bad!
Sad to see that, although Dorie Olds, Mark Hofmann's ex wife, has moved on with her life in many ways, she still clings to both the delusion that Hofmann did not commit the murders and a religion that keeps women submissive and in the dark about the real world.
The cover of the book says "bizarre beliefs" - absolutely.
I would highly recommend this book.
Emily's just a teaser for the Hofmann forgery/bombing tale.......2005-01-11
I liked this book more than most of the 42 earlier reviewers, although most of them did like it. I'm kind of the perfect reader for Simon Worrall, for two reasons: first, I've spent the past 25 years, part-time, researching all things Dickinson because in the 80's I wrote a play about the surviving kin who brought her poetry to the world amid adultery and feuds and greed and envy. Second, I've read three books about the astonishing and evil career of forger/murderer Mark Hofmann. So not everything in the book was new to me, although the information which was new was fascinating. It is not a perfectly written book, nor a perfectly organized one, nor a perfectly edited one. It would have benefitted from lots more photos of Hofmann's forged documents and of the victims of his bombs and deceit. Prior reviewers all make those points. However, it still is a worthwhile read, and the more so if you do not know as much as I do about Emily or about Hofmann's criminal activities. I won't rehash here the history of the Mormon Church, which is an essential ingredient in the tale and has nothing to do with Emily but everything to do with Mark Hofmann and why he became a killer. Some of the other reviewers chose to comment on that aspect in detail. Likewise, Mr. Worrall takes a few liberties with Emily which do not really belong in this story, such as relating a dream of taking a walk with her, and later trying to solve the mystery of the famous "master" letters---items which Hofmann did not forge, and which might relate to one of three men Emily probably had crushes on during her life (some think a woman might have been the object of these sad love letters.) Worrall tells us his pick, but there is no better evidence for it than for any of the other candidates, although I would also pick the same guy. Those few pages are unneeded in this tale, and should have been saved for some future magazine piece about Emily's life. Those criticisms aside, this remains a good read. One of the "heroes" is former special collections curator Dan Lombardo, then of the Jones Library in Amherst, Mass., Emily's hometown. I never met him, but during the creation of my play, which took a couple years of research and a couple more to put in final form, he and I corresponded. He was quite helpful to me, a total nobody, and I have always been grateful. It was nice to find out that during a huge crisis in his professional career, he behaved with honor and courage. (Yes, even librarians can have situations which can mean life or death to their reputations, jobs or institutions!) Mark Hofmann tried to pass off one of his own poems as an Emily Dickinson manuscript in order to make money and to make fools of the experts, and he almost succeeded. That's part of what the book is about. The rest of it details his anti-Mormon forgeries and a few other of the hundreds of fake items he sold in the late '70's and early '80's, before he killed two people to try to stave off financial ruin and exposure for himself. It is, then, at heart, a true crime story. Hofmann has been the subject of a bunch of other books, but none in which the Dickinson forgery is the starting point. If you like Emily, or true crime tales, this one is worth reading. I also recommend "The Mormon Murders." And for more on Emily, there is nothing as good as Richard Sewell's "The Life of Emily Dickinson" which will take months to read, but is wonderful.
Opportunity missed .........2004-09-01
The premise linking a forged Dickinson poem, forged Mormon documents, and the forger enticed me to read this book.
Parts of the book describing how forgeries are done and detected were very interesting. Alas however, there are no pictures of the forged documents that the author talks about. Thus you are left to your imagination when things such as "the second loop in the S" come up. Finally, I printed off samples of "The Oathe(sic) Of a Freeman", "Salamander Letter", and "Anthon Transcripts" from the web. Do this if you want to follow the descriptions in the book.
Often the author states "in pictures of Hoffman from the...". But NONE of these pictures are in the book. This took a lot away from the quality of the work. Behind the book there are two pictures of Dickenson poems, one forged and one real. That's it.
The writing is good in parts but somewhat disjointed as a flowing narrative.
There is nothing new in regards to the forger, Mark Hoffman, and his Mormon forgaries.
Book Description
The author of "Cod" and "The Basque History of the World" takes an extraordinary look at an ordinary substance--salt, the only rock humans eat--and how it has shaped civilization from the very beginning. Unabridged. 14 CDs.
Book Description
"Salt is the fascinating, indispensable history of an indispensable ingredient. Like Kurlansky's earlier work, Cod, it's a must-have book for any serious cook or foodie." - Anthony Bourdain, Author of The bestselling Kitchen Confidential
Customer Reviews:
Skimped on CD version.......2004-08-24
Just a note on the CD version only. Each disc contains only one 60-70 minute track. This forces me to listen in my car because that is the only CD player I have that "remembers" where I left off. Also, the 14 CDs came in three jewel cases with identical packaging. There's no way to tell which case contains which CDs without opening them. Scott Brick does a good job reading and I'm enjoying the story. I just wish the CD version were more user friendly.
A History Lesson.......2003-10-26
I am not a big history buff. And this is not a book that I would normally pick up and read let alone buy. I picked up this CD in the library because all the other CDs that I wanted to listen to were checked out. I was impressed and intrigued that there were 14 discs to this book. On such a simple subject such as salt? How much could someone possibly write about salt? I checked it out. I thought what the heck. I didn't lay out any money for it. If I didn't like it I could just turn it back in. Well, I got a real education about salt. It turns out that this was a very valuable commodity at one time. Wars were fought over this stuff. I like how this author takes you from the beginning to the present time through each step. Salt, going from being very valuable to increasingly losing it's value and what took place in history, what was invented and what was discovered, and by who, to make it lose it value. There was even some recipes. I don't think I'll be using any of them anytime soon but they were interesting. I still wouldn't pick this up in book form and read it but I would listen to it again. And I am going to buy a copy of the CD for a friend who is a history buff, I think he'll enjoy it.
Interesting, then boring, then interesting again.......2002-11-29
Starts off very well...the first hundred pages or so are filled with interesting facts about salt and world history. Then it falls apart in the middle, droning on and on about how various countries produced salt and tried to corner markets. It felt like I was doing homework and just had to get through it. It gets interesting again near the end, discussing Gandhi's protest of the salt tax in India, and British colonialism.
I'm glad I finished it, but if I had to start again I think I'd rather shave my scrotum and pour salt on the open wounds that would likely result
Book Description
"Lucid, evocative and richly detailed."—Jay Parini, author of The Apprentice Lover.
Both the Romans and the Greeks were attracted to the dramatically beautiful coasts and fertile plains of the region later known as "The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies." In fact, all myriad influences that shaped modern civilization in the Mediterranean come together in Southern Italy and Sicily. The world's first secular university was founded in Naples. Many of the elements of Italian culture as we now know it in the rest of the world - from comic opera to pizza—were born in the South. Art and music flourished there, as did progressive ideas about education, tolerance, and civic administration.
Native Neopolitan and distinguished scholar Tommaso Astarita gives us a history both erudite and full of personality—from the freethinking, cosmopolitan King Frederick who conferred with Jewish and Muslim philosophers (and dared to meet with the Sultan) to the fisherman Masaniello who inspired artists and revolutionaries across Europe. In the medieval South, Jews, Muslims, and Greek and Latin Christians could practice their religions, speak their languages, and live in mostly peaceful cohabitation. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Naples was on par with Paris, one of the largest and most cultured cities in Europe. During the Enlightenment, southern Italy captured the European imagination, and many people traveled far and wide to enjoy southern Italy's ancient ruins, beautiful landscapes, sweet music, and magnificent art, marveling at the lively temperament of the southern population. The drama and beauty of the region inspired visitors to claim that one had to "see Naples, and then die." Yet negative images of the Italian South's poverty, violence, superstition and nearness to Africa long fueled stereotypes of what was and was not acceptably "European." Goethe noted that he had gladly studied in Rome, but in Naples he wanted "only to live," for "Naples is a Paradise: everyone lives in a state of intoxicated self-forgetfulness, myself included.
From the Normans and Angevins through Spanish and Bourbon rule to the unification of Italy in 1860 and the subsequent emigration of vast numbers of Southern Italians, Between Salt Water and Holy Water captures the rich, dynamic past of a vibrant land.
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully conceptualized, interestingly written.......2007-06-25
I have been so delighted with this book I have nearly worn out the cover reading and rereading it. Until this book and another by a different author came out during the same year (2005) there was practically nothing meaningful about the history and development of Southern Italy available in English. This author has integrated the history, culture,art, music, literature of the region and sprinkled it with charming details and insights. This is not a travel guide or a book to be picked up lightly, but anyone interested in learning about that particular region of Italy will be well-served by this text. I have given it as a gift and consider it among my favorites.
Lucid and graceful history.......2006-08-18
Focusing on Naples and Sicily, this evocatively named short history provides a lucid and graceful study of complicated history. There were lovely nuggets of fact, too, the relationship of the Bronte family to a town in Southern Italy and Lord Nelson's ties to both; a bit about Southern Italian literature and letters and Neapolitan song.
Highly Respectable Scholary Work.......2006-02-23
Let's not confuse this work with pop histories or superficial glosses of history. This beautifully designed scholarly book is a highly detailed telling of what southern Italy has endured in the past 2000+ years. The story is quite complex. Lots of peoples have wanted to conquer this territory, for its grain, for its beauty, for its shores, and for its resources. Arabs, Spaniards, Germans, Greeks, and Normans have all left their footprints in the rich soil, and if one visits, one can still witness traces of this varied history there. To unravel all the kings, queens, barons, dukes, religious influences, cultural influences, and economic upturns and downturns is an undertaking requiring the reader's patience and quiet contemplation. The author, Tommaso Astarita, has done an excellent job in giving us the details. After reading this book, one can never quite think of this beautiful region in the same way again. Rather, as any good history does, this work changes our perception of the landscape, and we now remember and visualize its long struggles, the blood that's been shed, the plagues that have come and gone, and the hard endurance of its people. If you are not prepared to immerse yourself in scholarly details and complex writing, this book isn't for you. But if you want to truly understand southern Italy's history, you've come to the right place.
History of Naples, not Southern Italy.......2006-01-19
I was born in southern Italy so I was interested in this book because part of its title is "A History of Southern Italy". But it is far more accurate to describe it as a history of Naples with a few skimpy references to areas south of Naples to Messina. Naples is the heart and soul of this book, but then what can one expect of its writer who is described on the inside jacket as "Native Neopolitan". His love of Naples and its history is evident throughout. There is hardly a page where there's not endless mentions of Naples. For example, between p.268 and p.273 there are 33 mentions of "Naples" and "Neopolitan". Naples is not Southern Italy and Southern Italy is not Naples. If you are looking for a book on "A History of Southern Italy" this is not the book.
Understanding Southern Italy.......2005-09-19
This was a book to start learn more of the traditions, history, and politics which shaped the character of the Southern Italian people. Remeber that this is a history book, so at times it's not an easy read. But as it is difficult to find detailed information about Southern Italy, this provides some useful data. The focus is mainly on Naples and Sicily and only gives glimpses of other areas (Calabria, Puglia, etc.).
Book Description
The NIGERIA-BIAFRA war started in mid 1967 when a tiny region of Nigeria seceded from Nigeria to become Biafra. With the complete support of the British government, Nigeria instituted a very powerful and effective blockade on Biafra. The only communication that Biafra had with the rest of the world was through the RED CROSS and CARITAS relief flights that were flown into Biafra at nights under heavy attacks from Nigerian forces. Some of the planes were shot down. With no powerful nation backing Biafra, coupled with the blockade and the consequent lack of food and medicine, surviving in Biafra became a matter of improvisements for both Biafran forces and citizens. In an area that was replete with diseases like malaria, typhoid and kwashiorkor, this book explains how the Biafran citizens were able to survive for almost three years until Biafra was defeated in January 1970.
Customer Reviews:
A must-read book on surviving in Biafra.......2007-05-07
Chief Jim Ojiaku has written a fantastic and excellent expose' of the events of the Nigerian civil war from the home perspective. The rendition of his experiences, his free style of writing, enabled him to compress a large volume of facts with eloquence and details, thus, reminding the reader about why 'war is raw'. Chief Ojiaku wrote from the heart--a testament of the originality that would be a point of reference for future writers, hence there were no bibliographical references. The book portrayed how a determined people (Biafrans) courageously persevered over a thirty-month bloody civil war in the face of adversity perpetrated by world super-powers who coerced the international community to look away while they helped the Federal Government of Nigeria in its failed effort to win the war in forty-eight hours, then resorted to blockade and blanket the Biafrans both by sea, air, and land and executed the blood-letting and starvation that led to an eventual surrender to peace in 1970.
Chief Ojiaku indicated that although the battle ended in the war front, the war rages on as people from the Biafran side continue to be marginalized in almost all aspects of Nigerian life--politics, university admissions, road constructions and what have you! This book showed that Chief Jim Ojiaku can successfully make use of good advice. Thanks to his brother in law--Professor Joe Akunna who sincerely advised him to put down his thoughts in black and white.
Surviving the iron curtain exemplified how Biafra was killed in a genocidal civil unrest, but the people refused to die. The planned extermination of the Biafrans from the surface of the earth--how civilians were tortured and starved, the poor state of Biafra, how ill-equipped young people joined the war to save their people, how the Biafrans used improvises to fight valiantly as the Biblical David against Goliath. Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku did not forget the benevolence of the Red Cross and other relief organizations in breaking the iron curtain despite enemy attack. Worst still was the only twenty pounds which Biafrans received from the Nigerian Government who had any bank account in Biafran banks--being the only rehabilitation received since after the war.
Chief Jim Ojiaku deliberately refused to deal with the blame game that characterizes every war. He was right to blame both sides in order to allow the reader to understand his reason for writing the book. Finally Biafra surrendered through the courage and bravery of Colonel Philip Effiong who helped to salvage the human skull that was left of Biafra--in 1970. I strongly recommend this book to all who profess to the Biafran cause-both old and young--a reminder of the indelible scar--that was Biafra.
Surviving the iron curtain by Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku.......2007-04-23
In reading Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku's book I learned a piece of history that needs to be read by everyone and the world needs to remember the horrors of the war between Nigeria and The Republic Of Biafra and a war that tore apart a country.
He tells of one story about his brother Emmanuel who is killed at the front at the young age of 19 and the beautiful touching letter his father writes to his dead son, "An Epitath To Lt. Emmanuel Ojiaku."
This letter is heart breaking and no one would forget reading it. He writes very lovingly about his mother, father, brothers and sisters and especially about his love for his people. He brings forth in his book many beautiful photographs and diagrams on the many foods in his region and explains in great detail on each food and how they're prepared.
This book is a must read. Jim brings forth the great love he has for his people, his family and most of all his great country.
I give Chief Uche Jim Ojiaku five stars ***** for a book well written.
Joseph Frank Baraba
Book Description
Roy Moxham's tale begins in a secondhand bookshop on London's Charing Cross Road, where, for £25, he buys the memoirs of a nineteenth-century British colonial administrative officer. In the book Moxham stumbles upon a passing reference by its author to a great hedge that had been planted by the British across the Indian subcontinent. Manned and cared for by 12,000 men, the hedge stood for fifty years and at its greatest extent ran a length of 1,500 miles. That hedge, surely one of the largest man-made-and virtually forgotten-enterprises in human history, became what Moxham calls his "ridiculous obsession." At once a travel book and historical detective story, The Great Hedge of India chronicles a quest that takes Moxham from the British Library and the India Office Archive in London to the Indian subcontinent itself, in his attempt to discover whether this extraordinary, impenetrable green wall, which had so completely disappeared from two nations' memories, had in fact ever existed at all and, if it had, to what end. After years of research and travel that took him to charming, isolated villages in wilds rarely visited by tourists, Moxham succeeded where history had failed. Not only did he discover the inglorious role the hedge played within the huge commercial schemes that characterized the exploitative Raj but he also uncovered the final remnants of this British grand folly in India. His engrossing account in this volume sheds revelatory new light on British policy and administration in imperial India at the same time that it records Moxham's single-minded quest to restore to history what must be counted one of the wonders of the world.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining and informative at every level.......2003-09-30
The book is the story of an Englishman's chance discovery (actually rediscovery) of the construction of a barrier comparable to the Great Wall of China. The authors story of the search is an interesting part of the story, but the historical investigation of the barrier, the motivation behind it, the details n the effects of salt deprivation, the comparative analysis of salt taxation in Europe and China, all combine to make this one of the best reads I can remember. Highly recommended!
What next from the British Raj?.......2002-04-15
First we had THE GREAT ARC, a story about the immense project to map the arc of the meridian in India. Now we learn that the British army and the government built a 1500 mile long GREAT HEDGE OF INDIA as part of a customs wall to keep out smugglers of salt. As is to be expected with popular history books on such arcane subjects eccentricity abounds. Also fairly typically of such stories the quest becomes a bit of an obsession for the author. Moxham tells us that at first his search was casual and on a whim. Eventually his desire to find some remnant of the great hedge caused him to make repeated visits to India, learn Hindi, become a useful navigator using GPS tools and techniques, and spend years poring over maps and charts of colonial India. Was it worth it? Much of that depends on the reception of this book but Moxham has the satisfaction of finally finding a remnant of the hedge. We learn this near the end of the book and there's a photograph of a rather nondescript clump of thorny bush that proves it.
Finding a bit of the hedge closes the chapter on one aspect of this book. This wraps up the book as a travelogue of Moxham's personal treks through present day India and his imaginary journeys through the time and space of India under the Raj. On another level as a historical account the book is a bit thinner. The facts of the hedge are known. It seperated northern India into two almost equal parts and was designed to prevent salt from being smuggled in from Gujarat and Maharashtra states in the west and sugar from leaving the north. Eventually as part of a custom line it would run from Rawalpindi in the north-west (in present day Pakistan) to Orissa state on the east coast. Because of the various climatic zones it traversed the hedge was made up of different plants. Prickly pear, thorn brush, and bamboo were used. It was over 8 feet high and 5 feet wide with occassional openings marked by a large tamarind tree under which sat a customs shed. It was an impenetrable barrier except for the spots where smugglers had set fire to a few clumps or rats had gnawed away some roots. Moxham tells us that both army and cats were deployed with the hedge eventually being manned by some 14,000 soldiers. We never learn how many cats were required.
Moxham's coverage of history includes discussion of the East India Company and its maintenance of the Salt-Tax which consumed up to a fifth of a peasants annual income. The hedge and customs wall gave way in 1879 but the salt-tax remained (albeit at a much reduced rate) right up to the time of Ghandi who in fact used it as a symbol of what he was protesting against. Nobody still defends the Raj but Moxham nevertheless feels compelled to flagellate his country over its past. He says "British individuals, and most of all the East India Company itself, took vast sums out of India and spent it in Britain. India, which when the British arrived had been relatively well-off, became much poorer." This is no doubt true but balance is required and Moxham is not quite so strong in making the point that it was a Scotsman named Alan Octavian Hume who repayed India handsomely. Hume was the principal organizer of the Indian National Union in 1885 which became the Congress party, which later under Ghandi led India to independence. The truth is the Raj and it's deeds are history and guilt today over the past not only achieves nothing, it takes away from the enjoyment of the book. A point that supports this comes from a review of this book I read in one of India's daily newspapers. Of interest to the writer wasn't the stale facts of the Raj's misdeeds, but that it was an Englishman who had uncovered the fascinating story of the great hedge of India.
Modest but Unexpectedly Interesting.......2002-01-02
This little book describes the author's initially quixotic quest to find the remnants of the world's longest hedge, briefly mentioned in an tome he finds in a used book store. Moxham discovers that British imperialists of the 19th century built a man-made barrier more than two thousand miles long, reaching across the Indian subcontinent. This hedge was designed to prevent the smuggling of salt from parts of India with low salt taxes to the area of Bengal, where salt taxes were very high. As Moxham expands his research into the history of this barrier, he discovers with growing horror the impact of imperial revenue policy on the lives of ordinary Indians, many of whom died because they could not afford the salt they needed in their diets. This previously neglected aspect of British imperial history makes one wonder how many other horrors lie buried in the dry pages of the Empire's official journals. Moxham, who writes in simple, declarative language, sometimes devotes too much space to the details of his encounters with modern-day Indians, though some of those encounters are charming. It is unfortunate that his book does not include a single photograph, such as one of the remaining piece of hedge he found. Michael Michaud, Vienna, Austria
Hedging Up the Way.......2001-09-21
Roy Moxham's The Great Hedge of India fairly jumped off the shelf at me as I scanned new titles at the library. I enjoy learning about India and thought myself knowledgeable, yet this idea was new to me. I couldn't resist checking out the book and peeling away yet another surprising layer of the onion that is India.
A 1,500-mile-long hedge existed in India during Queen Victoria's reign? Who ever heard of such a thing? This first incredulous question led to more such as how? Where? And Why?
Moxham answers all those quandries and more in his multi-year quest to discover the remnants of the hedge in various parts of rural India. The hedge, it turns out, really did exist, although precious little remains. It was a tool to faciliate collection of the dreaded and inhumane British salt tax.
Read this book to savor and smell India. Read it to follow and understand Moxham's obsession with the hedge. Read it to comprehend another case of "man's inhumanity to man." Most of all, if think you know the Subcontinent, read it to show yourself there's still more to learn of this incredible place.
A interesting look at British India.......2001-08-29
This book does a wonderful job of giving the reader a glimps of both modern and British India. The discussion of the health and economic impact of the British salt tax was very well done. I enjoyed reading the book and look forward to visiting some of the places described.
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