Why is a 24-year-old book about salt suddenly back on everyone's reading list?

A book about salt isn't something you'd expect to find on the internet's must-read list. Yet that's exactly what's happening.

A decades-old book about salt is finding a new audience, thanks to a viral Instagram reel by creator @wyattderman. In the video, which has racked up more than seven million views, Derman drops fascinating nuggets from 'Salt: A World History' by American journalist and author Mark Kurlansky. Words like salary, soldier and salami, he says, all have links to salt. He even jokes that random salt trivia has become his favourite party fact.

Whether viewers arrived for the etymology or the history, many have ended up doing the same thing: buying a book first published in 2002 and discovering that the story of salt is far more dramatic than they ever imagined.

Published more than two decades ago, 'Salt: A World History' makes a compelling case that salt wasn't just another seasoning. Long before refrigerators, it preserved food, powered trade, built fortunes, fuelled wars and changed the course of civilisations. It's one of those rare books that can make you look at the salt shaker on your dining table a little differently.

Here are some of the fascinating stories that have readers hooked.

Salt once decided where cities were built
Today, salt is one of the cheapest ingredients in the supermarket. For much of history, it was one of the world's most valuable commodities.

Before refrigeration, salt was the best way to preserve meat and fish, making it indispensable. Salt mines became centres of commerce, trade routes developed around salt and entire towns prospered because they controlled access to it.

'Salary' really is connected to salt, but not quite the way you've heard
One of the biggest talking points from the viral reel is the origin of the word 'salary'. It comes from the Latin 'salarium', which is related to 'sal', meaning salt.

You've probably also heard that Roman soldiers were paid in salt. It's a great story, but historians say there's little evidence that this actually happened. The linguistic connection is real; the popular legend is probably not.

Salad, salami... and even soldier
Once you start looking, salt turns up in some unexpected places.

The word 'salad' comes from the Latin 'herba salata', meaning "salted greens". 'Salami' traces its roots to the Italian 'salare', meaning "to salt", a nod to the age-old method of preserving meat. Even the word 'soldier' is thought to share historical links with 'salarium', though the exact etymology is more complex than social media often suggests.

Salt has sparked revolutions
Few ingredients have inspired political movements, but salt has.

One of the most famous examples is Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March in 1930, when he challenged the British monopoly and tax on salt. Kurlansky also explores how salt taxes fuelled unrest in countries such as France and China, showing how something so ordinary could become a powerful political symbol.

Your favourite foods owe a lot to salt
Imagine a world without pickles, cured meats or salted fish.

Before refrigerators came, salt was what kept food edible for weeks or even months. It made long sea voyages possible, helped communities survive harsh winters and gave rise to countless preserved foods that are still staples today.

That's perhaps the biggest takeaway from 'Salt: A World History'. It's not really a book about seasoning. It's a book about civilisation, viewed through the lens of the ingredient most of us barely think about as we sprinkle it into a curry or over a plate of fries.

Buy Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky on Amazon