Paper: Paging Through History by Mark Kurlansky – review

This well-bound romp through the back pages of civilisation is flawed but fascinatingMark Kurlansky came to prominence with two books that took commonplace subjects and placed them at the centre of the universe. Cod, as one might have hoped for, was a biography of a fish. Kurlansky argued convincingly that cod had enjoyed a crucial role in trade and conflict, and he followed it up with a biography named Salt, which took a similar line and was no less entertaining. We are, ala