A wood that pays is a wood that stays, 30 Aug 2007
An excellent book for students and landowners, it starts with a brief history of woodland in Britain, followed by a chapter on tree biology and sylvicultural systems which is comprehensive and written in refreshingly plain english. The native and commonly used non-native trees are then detailed followed by how to draw up a management plan, essential if you want grant aid. Then the nitty-gritty of planting, protecting, measurement and marketing.

This is a very practical book on managing woodlands as a whole, very sensitive to their wildlife and landscape value but stressing that woodlands that pay are more likely to last.

A Starr read!, 29 Mar 2006
I found this book to be an insightful and stimulating guide to managing woodlands. The authour's writing style holds your attention and the information supplied is highly relevant and will be of value to a wide range of readers. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in purchasing or managing woodlands in the future.

Good Introduction, 07 Jan 2006
This book is an excellent introduction to Forest Management. It starts from the beginning, with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Ideal for potential forestry students as well as those with an interest in woodland.

A wood that pays is a wood that stays, 30 Aug 2007
An excellent book for students and landowners, it starts with a brief history of woodland in Britain, followed by a chapter on tree biology and sylvicultural systems which is comprehensive and written in refreshingly plain english. The native and commonly used non-native trees are then detailed followed by how to draw up a management plan, essential if you want grant aid. Then the nitty-gritty of planting, protecting, measurement and marketing.

This is a very practical book on managing woodlands as a whole, very sensitive to their wildlife and landscape value but stressing that woodlands that pay are more likely to last.

A Starr read!, 29 Mar 2006
I found this book to be an insightful and stimulating guide to managing woodlands. The authour's writing style holds your attention and the information supplied is highly relevant and will be of value to a wide range of readers. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in purchasing or managing woodlands in the future.

Good Introduction, 07 Jan 2006
This book is an excellent introduction to Forest Management. It starts from the beginning, with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Ideal for potential forestry students as well as those with an interest in woodland.

Informative Book........, 26 Oct 2007
I bought this as it seemed an interesting read. I'm glad I did!

In brief:

It starts off in China, showing how salt was won using gas fires to heat brine, with mud insulated bamboo pipes to provide the flames. The next great event is that of the discovery of the great cod fisheries off Newfoundland and also that cod could be salted and would not turn rancid like herring.

Also contains interesting facts such as until quite recently salt was a government monopoly in Italy and could only be bought from tobacconists (cancer and high blood pressure in one place!) and that gold was not traded weight for weight with salt, although it does show the great value placed upon it. Mark Kurlansky did his reserach well for this.

Elevates chips from blah to sublime, 25 Jan 2006
I'm occasionally scolded for using too much salt. SALT: A WORLD HISTORY simply reinforces the fact that NaCl has been in the human diet for millennia. So, get off my back already. If God hadn't wanted me to eat the stuff, he wouldn't have given me kidneys.

Besides being a narrative of how salt has been harvested through the ages, either by brine evaporation or the mining of rock salt, SALT is also a history of its link to food preservation and preparation and governments. Whether it be cod, cheese, herring, ham, beef, anchovies, butter, Tabasco sauce, sauerkraut, pickles, ketchup, or "1000-year-old" eggs, salt makes it happen. And successive bureaucracies over the centuries have harnessed the production, sale and shipment of salt for the enrichment of national coffers through monopolies and taxation schemes, some of them disastrously misguided. Perhaps most illustrative of the latter is the chapter describing Britain's curtailment of indigenous salt production in India during the Raj period. This imperial policy, designed to protect the domestic English salt industry, was of such detriment to large segments of the Indian population that it was the issue that sparked Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience, ultimately leading to that colony's independence.

I would award five stars except for two statements made by author Mark Kurlansky in his chapter about salt and the American Civil War. These assertions have trivial impact on the book as a whole, but are so sloppy as to make me wonder about the accuracy of his interpretation of more relevant facts.

Regarding Confederate general George Pickett, who received a pouch of precious salt as a wedding gift: "... (he) later reached the most northerly point of any Confederate in combat when he ... led a ruinous charge up a sloping Pennsylvania field - the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg." The author is referring, of course, to Pickett's Charge, and perhaps he was speaking figuratively. While it is fact that one of his brigades briefly breached the Union line at Bloody Angle, it was that unit's commander, Brigadier General Louis Armistead, who was mortally wounded inside the Union position and was arguably the one who led the charge. Pickett wasn't in front on that one. Also, the site of that valiant effort was south of the town of Gettysburg, which had been occupied by the Confederates two days previous.

Further on, Kurlansky trips when describing the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee as "a standoff". Really? While Federal forces under Ulysses Grant took a shellacking on the first day of the battle, they rallied on the second to drive the Confederates into a full-scale retreat from the battlefield. Moreover, Albert Sidney Johnston, who began Shiloh commanding the Confederate forces and was perhaps the South's most respected general at the time, was killed. Though casualties were roughly the same on both sides, my scorecard has this as a Northern win.

But, I digress.

SALT is one of those books about something we take for granted that captivates the reader with useless but fun facts. Did you know that pastrami (salted beef) is of Romanian origin, that Laplanders drink salted coffee, that a Swedish favorite is salted licorice candy, that 51% of U.S. salt use is to de-ice roads, or that there's a working salt mine 1,200 feet below Detroit?

Curiously, though, Kurlansky says not one word about that most mystical of culinary inventions, salt on chips. What was he thinking?

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 26 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and military empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon farmers in France discovered that curdled milk drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 23 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon France farmers discovered that curdled mild drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

You'll never look at food in the same way again..., 26 Sep 2003
As I started reading this book, I thought to myself that Mark Kurlansky had performed a miracle, and actually made the subject of the history of salt quite interesting.

However, as you delve deeper into the book, you appreciate two things. First, just how important salt was in history - Kurlansky isn't exaggerating when he says wars have been fought, lost and won over salt. Second, how the author does actually have a very good writing style about him - the numerous fascinating facts he brings out may not have been quite so fascinating if told by a different author.

For me, two things put the book into perspective. These two things are explained about two-thirds of the way through the book, and suddenly make you realise why salt has been so important to society, governments, armies, etc.etc.etc throughout history - and why we can take it for granted now.

More than an epic history of salt (and it does actually work on that level too - such is Kurlansky's depth of research), this is packed so full of great little facts that it's also just a great read. Recommended for anyone who wants to understand more about a substance that's so common, it's very easy to take for granted these days. You just won't look at food in the same way again...

A wood that pays is a wood that stays, 30 Aug 2007
An excellent book for students and landowners, it starts with a brief history of woodland in Britain, followed by a chapter on tree biology and sylvicultural systems which is comprehensive and written in refreshingly plain english. The native and commonly used non-native trees are then detailed followed by how to draw up a management plan, essential if you want grant aid. Then the nitty-gritty of planting, protecting, measurement and marketing.

This is a very practical book on managing woodlands as a whole, very sensitive to their wildlife and landscape value but stressing that woodlands that pay are more likely to last.

A Starr read!, 29 Mar 2006
I found this book to be an insightful and stimulating guide to managing woodlands. The authour's writing style holds your attention and the information supplied is highly relevant and will be of value to a wide range of readers. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in purchasing or managing woodlands in the future.

Good Introduction, 07 Jan 2006
This book is an excellent introduction to Forest Management. It starts from the beginning, with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Ideal for potential forestry students as well as those with an interest in woodland.

Informative Book........, 26 Oct 2007
I bought this as it seemed an interesting read. I'm glad I did!

In brief:

It starts off in China, showing how salt was won using gas fires to heat brine, with mud insulated bamboo pipes to provide the flames. The next great event is that of the discovery of the great cod fisheries off Newfoundland and also that cod could be salted and would not turn rancid like herring.

Also contains interesting facts such as until quite recently salt was a government monopoly in Italy and could only be bought from tobacconists (cancer and high blood pressure in one place!) and that gold was not traded weight for weight with salt, although it does show the great value placed upon it. Mark Kurlansky did his reserach well for this.

Elevates chips from blah to sublime, 25 Jan 2006
I'm occasionally scolded for using too much salt. SALT: A WORLD HISTORY simply reinforces the fact that NaCl has been in the human diet for millennia. So, get off my back already. If God hadn't wanted me to eat the stuff, he wouldn't have given me kidneys.

Besides being a narrative of how salt has been harvested through the ages, either by brine evaporation or the mining of rock salt, SALT is also a history of its link to food preservation and preparation and governments. Whether it be cod, cheese, herring, ham, beef, anchovies, butter, Tabasco sauce, sauerkraut, pickles, ketchup, or "1000-year-old" eggs, salt makes it happen. And successive bureaucracies over the centuries have harnessed the production, sale and shipment of salt for the enrichment of national coffers through monopolies and taxation schemes, some of them disastrously misguided. Perhaps most illustrative of the latter is the chapter describing Britain's curtailment of indigenous salt production in India during the Raj period. This imperial policy, designed to protect the domestic English salt industry, was of such detriment to large segments of the Indian population that it was the issue that sparked Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience, ultimately leading to that colony's independence.

I would award five stars except for two statements made by author Mark Kurlansky in his chapter about salt and the American Civil War. These assertions have trivial impact on the book as a whole, but are so sloppy as to make me wonder about the accuracy of his interpretation of more relevant facts.

Regarding Confederate general George Pickett, who received a pouch of precious salt as a wedding gift: "... (he) later reached the most northerly point of any Confederate in combat when he ... led a ruinous charge up a sloping Pennsylvania field - the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg." The author is referring, of course, to Pickett's Charge, and perhaps he was speaking figuratively. While it is fact that one of his brigades briefly breached the Union line at Bloody Angle, it was that unit's commander, Brigadier General Louis Armistead, who was mortally wounded inside the Union position and was arguably the one who led the charge. Pickett wasn't in front on that one. Also, the site of that valiant effort was south of the town of Gettysburg, which had been occupied by the Confederates two days previous.

Further on, Kurlansky trips when describing the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee as "a standoff". Really? While Federal forces under Ulysses Grant took a shellacking on the first day of the battle, they rallied on the second to drive the Confederates into a full-scale retreat from the battlefield. Moreover, Albert Sidney Johnston, who began Shiloh commanding the Confederate forces and was perhaps the South's most respected general at the time, was killed. Though casualties were roughly the same on both sides, my scorecard has this as a Northern win.

But, I digress.

SALT is one of those books about something we take for granted that captivates the reader with useless but fun facts. Did you know that pastrami (salted beef) is of Romanian origin, that Laplanders drink salted coffee, that a Swedish favorite is salted licorice candy, that 51% of U.S. salt use is to de-ice roads, or that there's a working salt mine 1,200 feet below Detroit?

Curiously, though, Kurlansky says not one word about that most mystical of culinary inventions, salt on chips. What was he thinking?

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 26 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and military empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon farmers in France discovered that curdled milk drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 23 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon France farmers discovered that curdled mild drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

You'll never look at food in the same way again..., 26 Sep 2003
As I started reading this book, I thought to myself that Mark Kurlansky had performed a miracle, and actually made the subject of the history of salt quite interesting.

However, as you delve deeper into the book, you appreciate two things. First, just how important salt was in history - Kurlansky isn't exaggerating when he says wars have been fought, lost and won over salt. Second, how the author does actually have a very good writing style about him - the numerous fascinating facts he brings out may not have been quite so fascinating if told by a different author.

For me, two things put the book into perspective. These two things are explained about two-thirds of the way through the book, and suddenly make you realise why salt has been so important to society, governments, armies, etc.etc.etc throughout history - and why we can take it for granted now.

More than an epic history of salt (and it does actually work on that level too - such is Kurlansky's depth of research), this is packed so full of great little facts that it's also just a great read. Recommended for anyone who wants to understand more about a substance that's so common, it's very easy to take for granted these days. You just won't look at food in the same way again...

Interesting and useful, but not enough pictures!, 05 Feb 2008
This book is well-written, informative and useful. However, I think it would have been greatly improved if the lists of natives plants had been accompanied by photos, which would make the selection of plants much easier for less experienced gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for, 17 May 2007
After the recent (delightful) arrival of roe deer in my garden I bought this book yesterday and read it straight through - it has exactly the right kind of information on gardening for wildlife: why exactly you should plant native plants rather than exotics. Which butterflies and birds feed on which plants. How to propagate wildflowers. How to arrange shrubs and trees to provide better shelter and animal cover. It's Chris Baines's attitude which is the most refreshing - got big bites out of your foliage? Good, he says, it shows you're providing food for xy and z insects, which are food for birds, which are food for larger birds, foxes and so on. I am lucky enough to have a very large country garden, but this book is suitable even if all you have is a city balcony. I am hoping to put his ideas on different kinds of meadow planting, ponds and wetland planting into effect by next summer. A really good read.

Excellent book, 25 May 2005
This is the book I use all the time for my work as a wildlife garden designer. I also keep stocks of this book to sell to clients, so they can get the most out of their wildlife gardens, whether we (www.wildlifeservices.co.uk) build them or not.

An essential read for wildlife enthusiasts, 29 Apr 2005
I can only give this book 5 stars as it is a book that is consistantly recommended where wildlife gardening is concerned. Not to say that it couldn't be improved, but it is a very enjoyable read. It strikes a good balance between narrative and practicle tips (mostly in the form of tables) explaining the ways in which you can attract wildlife to your garden. For example in one table it shows you how many species a particular tree attracts. Now if your expecting the book to name all 300+ species oak (quercus robur) attracts then your in for a dissapointment. Although it would be a vast undertaking if someone were to do that complete with pictures of the species then that would appeal to my passion for details in areas concerning wildlife.

It not only deals with trees but also our native flowers. Again not really naming all the species that they attract a lot of the time. But then again you don't really expect that from what is essentially a beginners guide.

Anyone willing to take their knowlege of wildlife gardening to the next level I would seriously recommend this book.

Does everything it says on the cover..., 28 Dec 2001
This an excellent and well written book. There are sadly only a few books on creating wildlife habitats in your garden and this is the best one I have read.Included are sections on each area of the garden, useful lists of the best plants to grow, ideas for new habitat areas to create, I have followed some of the ideas and have seen the amount of wildlife in our garden grow consdierably, last year we didnt have to spray for any harmful insects and this winter we have had a huge selection of birds in the garden that simply werent there last year.The only downside would be the lack of clarity on what exacly to feed and when for birds - other than that this is an excellent, well written and informative book - if you are at all interested in the subject BUY IT NOW!!

A wood that pays is a wood that stays, 30 Aug 2007
An excellent book for students and landowners, it starts with a brief history of woodland in Britain, followed by a chapter on tree biology and sylvicultural systems which is comprehensive and written in refreshingly plain english. The native and commonly used non-native trees are then detailed followed by how to draw up a management plan, essential if you want grant aid. Then the nitty-gritty of planting, protecting, measurement and marketing.

This is a very practical book on managing woodlands as a whole, very sensitive to their wildlife and landscape value but stressing that woodlands that pay are more likely to last.

A Starr read!, 29 Mar 2006
I found this book to be an insightful and stimulating guide to managing woodlands. The authour's writing style holds your attention and the information supplied is highly relevant and will be of value to a wide range of readers. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in purchasing or managing woodlands in the future.

Good Introduction, 07 Jan 2006
This book is an excellent introduction to Forest Management. It starts from the beginning, with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Ideal for potential forestry students as well as those with an interest in woodland.

Informative Book........, 26 Oct 2007
I bought this as it seemed an interesting read. I'm glad I did!

In brief:

It starts off in China, showing how salt was won using gas fires to heat brine, with mud insulated bamboo pipes to provide the flames. The next great event is that of the discovery of the great cod fisheries off Newfoundland and also that cod could be salted and would not turn rancid like herring.

Also contains interesting facts such as until quite recently salt was a government monopoly in Italy and could only be bought from tobacconists (cancer and high blood pressure in one place!) and that gold was not traded weight for weight with salt, although it does show the great value placed upon it. Mark Kurlansky did his reserach well for this.

Elevates chips from blah to sublime, 25 Jan 2006
I'm occasionally scolded for using too much salt. SALT: A WORLD HISTORY simply reinforces the fact that NaCl has been in the human diet for millennia. So, get off my back already. If God hadn't wanted me to eat the stuff, he wouldn't have given me kidneys.

Besides being a narrative of how salt has been harvested through the ages, either by brine evaporation or the mining of rock salt, SALT is also a history of its link to food preservation and preparation and governments. Whether it be cod, cheese, herring, ham, beef, anchovies, butter, Tabasco sauce, sauerkraut, pickles, ketchup, or "1000-year-old" eggs, salt makes it happen. And successive bureaucracies over the centuries have harnessed the production, sale and shipment of salt for the enrichment of national coffers through monopolies and taxation schemes, some of them disastrously misguided. Perhaps most illustrative of the latter is the chapter describing Britain's curtailment of indigenous salt production in India during the Raj period. This imperial policy, designed to protect the domestic English salt industry, was of such detriment to large segments of the Indian population that it was the issue that sparked Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience, ultimately leading to that colony's independence.

I would award five stars except for two statements made by author Mark Kurlansky in his chapter about salt and the American Civil War. These assertions have trivial impact on the book as a whole, but are so sloppy as to make me wonder about the accuracy of his interpretation of more relevant facts.

Regarding Confederate general George Pickett, who received a pouch of precious salt as a wedding gift: "... (he) later reached the most northerly point of any Confederate in combat when he ... led a ruinous charge up a sloping Pennsylvania field - the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg." The author is referring, of course, to Pickett's Charge, and perhaps he was speaking figuratively. While it is fact that one of his brigades briefly breached the Union line at Bloody Angle, it was that unit's commander, Brigadier General Louis Armistead, who was mortally wounded inside the Union position and was arguably the one who led the charge. Pickett wasn't in front on that one. Also, the site of that valiant effort was south of the town of Gettysburg, which had been occupied by the Confederates two days previous.

Further on, Kurlansky trips when describing the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee as "a standoff". Really? While Federal forces under Ulysses Grant took a shellacking on the first day of the battle, they rallied on the second to drive the Confederates into a full-scale retreat from the battlefield. Moreover, Albert Sidney Johnston, who began Shiloh commanding the Confederate forces and was perhaps the South's most respected general at the time, was killed. Though casualties were roughly the same on both sides, my scorecard has this as a Northern win.

But, I digress.

SALT is one of those books about something we take for granted that captivates the reader with useless but fun facts. Did you know that pastrami (salted beef) is of Romanian origin, that Laplanders drink salted coffee, that a Swedish favorite is salted licorice candy, that 51% of U.S. salt use is to de-ice roads, or that there's a working salt mine 1,200 feet below Detroit?

Curiously, though, Kurlansky says not one word about that most mystical of culinary inventions, salt on chips. What was he thinking?

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 26 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and military empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon farmers in France discovered that curdled milk drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 23 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon France farmers discovered that curdled mild drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

You'll never look at food in the same way again..., 26 Sep 2003
As I started reading this book, I thought to myself that Mark Kurlansky had performed a miracle, and actually made the subject of the history of salt quite interesting.

However, as you delve deeper into the book, you appreciate two things. First, just how important salt was in history - Kurlansky isn't exaggerating when he says wars have been fought, lost and won over salt. Second, how the author does actually have a very good writing style about him - the numerous fascinating facts he brings out may not have been quite so fascinating if told by a different author.

For me, two things put the book into perspective. These two things are explained about two-thirds of the way through the book, and suddenly make you realise why salt has been so important to society, governments, armies, etc.etc.etc throughout history - and why we can take it for granted now.

More than an epic history of salt (and it does actually work on that level too - such is Kurlansky's depth of research), this is packed so full of great little facts that it's also just a great read. Recommended for anyone who wants to understand more about a substance that's so common, it's very easy to take for granted these days. You just won't look at food in the same way again...

Interesting and useful, but not enough pictures!, 05 Feb 2008
This book is well-written, informative and useful. However, I think it would have been greatly improved if the lists of natives plants had been accompanied by photos, which would make the selection of plants much easier for less experienced gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for, 17 May 2007
After the recent (delightful) arrival of roe deer in my garden I bought this book yesterday and read it straight through - it has exactly the right kind of information on gardening for wildlife: why exactly you should plant native plants rather than exotics. Which butterflies and birds feed on which plants. How to propagate wildflowers. How to arrange shrubs and trees to provide better shelter and animal cover. It's Chris Baines's attitude which is the most refreshing - got big bites out of your foliage? Good, he says, it shows you're providing food for xy and z insects, which are food for birds, which are food for larger birds, foxes and so on. I am lucky enough to have a very large country garden, but this book is suitable even if all you have is a city balcony. I am hoping to put his ideas on different kinds of meadow planting, ponds and wetland planting into effect by next summer. A really good read.

Excellent book, 25 May 2005
This is the book I use all the time for my work as a wildlife garden designer. I also keep stocks of this book to sell to clients, so they can get the most out of their wildlife gardens, whether we (www.wildlifeservices.co.uk) build them or not.

An essential read for wildlife enthusiasts, 29 Apr 2005
I can only give this book 5 stars as it is a book that is consistantly recommended where wildlife gardening is concerned. Not to say that it couldn't be improved, but it is a very enjoyable read. It strikes a good balance between narrative and practicle tips (mostly in the form of tables) explaining the ways in which you can attract wildlife to your garden. For example in one table it shows you how many species a particular tree attracts. Now if your expecting the book to name all 300+ species oak (quercus robur) attracts then your in for a dissapointment. Although it would be a vast undertaking if someone were to do that complete with pictures of the species then that would appeal to my passion for details in areas concerning wildlife.

It not only deals with trees but also our native flowers. Again not really naming all the species that they attract a lot of the time. But then again you don't really expect that from what is essentially a beginners guide.

Anyone willing to take their knowlege of wildlife gardening to the next level I would seriously recommend this book.

Does everything it says on the cover..., 28 Dec 2001
This an excellent and well written book. There are sadly only a few books on creating wildlife habitats in your garden and this is the best one I have read.Included are sections on each area of the garden, useful lists of the best plants to grow, ideas for new habitat areas to create, I have followed some of the ideas and have seen the amount of wildlife in our garden grow consdierably, last year we didnt have to spray for any harmful insects and this winter we have had a huge selection of birds in the garden that simply werent there last year.The only downside would be the lack of clarity on what exacly to feed and when for birds - other than that this is an excellent, well written and informative book - if you are at all interested in the subject BUY IT NOW!!

When demand outstrips supply, 26 Sep 2005
Overshoot: when demand overtakes supply.

I recall buying the original edition of this book back in 1972, and also recall the rubbishing it got from those who believed it was all scare mongering.

The events of the 1970's should have acted as wake-up call, but they now seem like a distant memory: the three-day-week, the power cuts, the petrol rationing coupons (never implemented).

Since 1972, growth has been given a huge boost by globalisation, and the take-offs in China and India.

When this book was published in its 1992 edition - 'Beyond the Limits' - the authors warned that unsustainability was already evident: deforestation, climate change, the ozone hole.

They point to the failure of various international summits to get a grip on the problem.

It seems that our elites are vaguely aware that there is a problem here, and mention it in passing to give the impression that they on the case. It is usually on the list of the many things the Prime Minister is going to sort out before dinner.

The Kyoto protocols were some sort of triumph. But the developing nations, like China and India were not included and George W Bush doesn't seem to be persuaded that there's a problem.

The lack of urgency is widespread: as the victims of Katrina and Rita now know better than the rest of us.

Yet it's all something we know. We all know, for example, that the oil is going to dry up some day, but what the heck? It won't be next week, will it?

But someday it is going to be someone else's next week.

When that time comes, all the lost local skills will suddenly be missed. For that is what it will be: a return to the local economy. Your food, your shelter, your clothing, will all have be sourced locally. In the UK's case it's drop-back over two hundred years, minus the skills that were around in those days.

So, for the third time since 1972, the authors lay it all before us: what needs to be done.

First, and most painfully, there is no time to be lost:

"The longer the world economy takes to reduce its ecological footprint and move towards sustainability, the lower the population and material standard of living that will be ultimately supportable. At some point delay means collapse."

In the chapter "Transitions to a Sustainable System" the authors show us just how dramatic the changes need to be.

They offer our elites the chance to start the changes now, while there is time to manage the changeover.

They all make sense, but they require something more than political action, they require an end to individualism as we have known it. This is the leap many people will not be able to make

Out must go the competition for individual power, status, and wealth which are the engines of the current society. Reflect on that: and you see the enormity of the task.

A wood that pays is a wood that stays, 30 Aug 2007
An excellent book for students and landowners, it starts with a brief history of woodland in Britain, followed by a chapter on tree biology and sylvicultural systems which is comprehensive and written in refreshingly plain english. The native and commonly used non-native trees are then detailed followed by how to draw up a management plan, essential if you want grant aid. Then the nitty-gritty of planting, protecting, measurement and marketing.

This is a very practical book on managing woodlands as a whole, very sensitive to their wildlife and landscape value but stressing that woodlands that pay are more likely to last.

A Starr read!, 29 Mar 2006
I found this book to be an insightful and stimulating guide to managing woodlands. The authour's writing style holds your attention and the information supplied is highly relevant and will be of value to a wide range of readers. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in purchasing or managing woodlands in the future.

Good Introduction, 07 Jan 2006
This book is an excellent introduction to Forest Management. It starts from the beginning, with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Ideal for potential forestry students as well as those with an interest in woodland.

Informative Book........, 26 Oct 2007
I bought this as it seemed an interesting read. I'm glad I did!

In brief:

It starts off in China, showing how salt was won using gas fires to heat brine, with mud insulated bamboo pipes to provide the flames. The next great event is that of the discovery of the great cod fisheries off Newfoundland and also that cod could be salted and would not turn rancid like herring.

Also contains interesting facts such as until quite recently salt was a government monopoly in Italy and could only be bought from tobacconists (cancer and high blood pressure in one place!) and that gold was not traded weight for weight with salt, although it does show the great value placed upon it. Mark Kurlansky did his reserach well for this.

Elevates chips from blah to sublime, 25 Jan 2006
I'm occasionally scolded for using too much salt. SALT: A WORLD HISTORY simply reinforces the fact that NaCl has been in the human diet for millennia. So, get off my back already. If God hadn't wanted me to eat the stuff, he wouldn't have given me kidneys.

Besides being a narrative of how salt has been harvested through the ages, either by brine evaporation or the mining of rock salt, SALT is also a history of its link to food preservation and preparation and governments. Whether it be cod, cheese, herring, ham, beef, anchovies, butter, Tabasco sauce, sauerkraut, pickles, ketchup, or "1000-year-old" eggs, salt makes it happen. And successive bureaucracies over the centuries have harnessed the production, sale and shipment of salt for the enrichment of national coffers through monopolies and taxation schemes, some of them disastrously misguided. Perhaps most illustrative of the latter is the chapter describing Britain's curtailment of indigenous salt production in India during the Raj period. This imperial policy, designed to protect the domestic English salt industry, was of such detriment to large segments of the Indian population that it was the issue that sparked Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience, ultimately leading to that colony's independence.

I would award five stars except for two statements made by author Mark Kurlansky in his chapter about salt and the American Civil War. These assertions have trivial impact on the book as a whole, but are so sloppy as to make me wonder about the accuracy of his interpretation of more relevant facts.

Regarding Confederate general George Pickett, who received a pouch of precious salt as a wedding gift: "... (he) later reached the most northerly point of any Confederate in combat when he ... led a ruinous charge up a sloping Pennsylvania field - the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg." The author is referring, of course, to Pickett's Charge, and perhaps he was speaking figuratively. While it is fact that one of his brigades briefly breached the Union line at Bloody Angle, it was that unit's commander, Brigadier General Louis Armistead, who was mortally wounded inside the Union position and was arguably the one who led the charge. Pickett wasn't in front on that one. Also, the site of that valiant effort was south of the town of Gettysburg, which had been occupied by the Confederates two days previous.

Further on, Kurlansky trips when describing the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee as "a standoff". Really? While Federal forces under Ulysses Grant took a shellacking on the first day of the battle, they rallied on the second to drive the Confederates into a full-scale retreat from the battlefield. Moreover, Albert Sidney Johnston, who began Shiloh commanding the Confederate forces and was perhaps the South's most respected general at the time, was killed. Though casualties were roughly the same on both sides, my scorecard has this as a Northern win.

But, I digress.

SALT is one of those books about something we take for granted that captivates the reader with useless but fun facts. Did you know that pastrami (salted beef) is of Romanian origin, that Laplanders drink salted coffee, that a Swedish favorite is salted licorice candy, that 51% of U.S. salt use is to de-ice roads, or that there's a working salt mine 1,200 feet below Detroit?

Curiously, though, Kurlansky says not one word about that most mystical of culinary inventions, salt on chips. What was he thinking?

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 26 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and military empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon farmers in France discovered that curdled milk drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 23 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon France farmers discovered that curdled mild drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

You'll never look at food in the same way again..., 26 Sep 2003
As I started reading this book, I thought to myself that Mark Kurlansky had performed a miracle, and actually made the subject of the history of salt quite interesting.

However, as you delve deeper into the book, you appreciate two things. First, just how important salt was in history - Kurlansky isn't exaggerating when he says wars have been fought, lost and won over salt. Second, how the author does actually have a very good writing style about him - the numerous fascinating facts he brings out may not have been quite so fascinating if told by a different author.

For me, two things put the book into perspective. These two things are explained about two-thirds of the way through the book, and suddenly make you realise why salt has been so important to society, governments, armies, etc.etc.etc throughout history - and why we can take it for granted now.

More than an epic history of salt (and it does actually work on that level too - such is Kurlansky's depth of research), this is packed so full of great little facts that it's also just a great read. Recommended for anyone who wants to understand more about a substance that's so common, it's very easy to take for granted these days. You just won't look at food in the same way again...

Interesting and useful, but not enough pictures!, 05 Feb 2008
This book is well-written, informative and useful. However, I think it would have been greatly improved if the lists of natives plants had been accompanied by photos, which would make the selection of plants much easier for less experienced gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for, 17 May 2007
After the recent (delightful) arrival of roe deer in my garden I bought this book yesterday and read it straight through - it has exactly the right kind of information on gardening for wildlife: why exactly you should plant native plants rather than exotics. Which butterflies and birds feed on which plants. How to propagate wildflowers. How to arrange shrubs and trees to provide better shelter and animal cover. It's Chris Baines's attitude which is the most refreshing - got big bites out of your foliage? Good, he says, it shows you're providing food for xy and z insects, which are food for birds, which are food for larger birds, foxes and so on. I am lucky enough to have a very large country garden, but this book is suitable even if all you have is a city balcony. I am hoping to put his ideas on different kinds of meadow planting, ponds and wetland planting into effect by next summer. A really good read.

Excellent book, 25 May 2005
This is the book I use all the time for my work as a wildlife garden designer. I also keep stocks of this book to sell to clients, so they can get the most out of their wildlife gardens, whether we (www.wildlifeservices.co.uk) build them or not.

An essential read for wildlife enthusiasts, 29 Apr 2005
I can only give this book 5 stars as it is a book that is consistantly recommended where wildlife gardening is concerned. Not to say that it couldn't be improved, but it is a very enjoyable read. It strikes a good balance between narrative and practicle tips (mostly in the form of tables) explaining the ways in which you can attract wildlife to your garden. For example in one table it shows you how many species a particular tree attracts. Now if your expecting the book to name all 300+ species oak (quercus robur) attracts then your in for a dissapointment. Although it would be a vast undertaking if someone were to do that complete with pictures of the species then that would appeal to my passion for details in areas concerning wildlife.

It not only deals with trees but also our native flowers. Again not really naming all the species that they attract a lot of the time. But then again you don't really expect that from what is essentially a beginners guide.

Anyone willing to take their knowlege of wildlife gardening to the next level I would seriously recommend this book.

Does everything it says on the cover..., 28 Dec 2001
This an excellent and well written book. There are sadly only a few books on creating wildlife habitats in your garden and this is the best one I have read.Included are sections on each area of the garden, useful lists of the best plants to grow, ideas for new habitat areas to create, I have followed some of the ideas and have seen the amount of wildlife in our garden grow consdierably, last year we didnt have to spray for any harmful insects and this winter we have had a huge selection of birds in the garden that simply werent there last year.The only downside would be the lack of clarity on what exacly to feed and when for birds - other than that this is an excellent, well written and informative book - if you are at all interested in the subject BUY IT NOW!!

When demand outstrips supply, 26 Sep 2005
Overshoot: when demand overtakes supply.

I recall buying the original edition of this book back in 1972, and also recall the rubbishing it got from those who believed it was all scare mongering.

The events of the 1970's should have acted as wake-up call, but they now seem like a distant memory: the three-day-week, the power cuts, the petrol rationing coupons (never implemented).

Since 1972, growth has been given a huge boost by globalisation, and the take-offs in China and India.

When this book was published in its 1992 edition - 'Beyond the Limits' - the authors warned that unsustainability was already evident: deforestation, climate change, the ozone hole.

They point to the failure of various international summits to get a grip on the problem.

It seems that our elites are vaguely aware that there is a problem here, and mention it in passing to give the impression that they on the case. It is usually on the list of the many things the Prime Minister is going to sort out before dinner.

The Kyoto protocols were some sort of triumph. But the developing nations, like China and India were not included and George W Bush doesn't seem to be persuaded that there's a problem.

The lack of urgency is widespread: as the victims of Katrina and Rita now know better than the rest of us.

Yet it's all something we know. We all know, for example, that the oil is going to dry up some day, but what the heck? It won't be next week, will it?

But someday it is going to be someone else's next week.

When that time comes, all the lost local skills will suddenly be missed. For that is what it will be: a return to the local economy. Your food, your shelter, your clothing, will all have be sourced locally. In the UK's case it's drop-back over two hundred years, minus the skills that were around in those days.

So, for the third time since 1972, the authors lay it all before us: what needs to be done.

First, and most painfully, there is no time to be lost:

"The longer the world economy takes to reduce its ecological footprint and move towards sustainability, the lower the population and material standard of living that will be ultimately supportable. At some point delay means collapse."

In the chapter "Transitions to a Sustainable System" the authors show us just how dramatic the changes need to be.

They offer our elites the chance to start the changes now, while there is time to manage the changeover.

They all make sense, but they require something more than political action, they require an end to individualism as we have known it. This is the leap many people will not be able to make

Out must go the competition for individual power, status, and wealth which are the engines of the current society. Reflect on that: and you see the enormity of the task.

Good enough, 23 Sep 2006
The problem faced by anyone writing about woodland management is that there are so many types of woodland, each of which can be managed in several ways, so their books often end up as a series of generalisations and lacking in detail.
Ben Law's book is the best I have read on the subject, and it is particularly pleasing in its honesty and aspects of its detail.
This is a realistic book, not given to overstatement.
I am not entirely sure whether there is a difference between sensible woodland management and the permaculture approach. I have planted 150 acres of new woodland and manage it along the lines outlined in the book without ever having heard of Permaculture before, but if nothing else I have found this book has been very encouraging, and feel reasured that I am doing most things "right"

An inspirational and enjoyable book, 18 Dec 2001
The author, writes from the heart and obviously has a very deep commitment to practical sustainability. He lives in his own woodlands, 'Prickly Nut Wood' in Lodsworth and he has recently been granted permission for a permanent home there. There are plenty of excellent photographs adding vision to his text. He covers every conceivable issue relating to wood, woodlands and woodland management. Some of his ideas are radical alternatives to conventional woodland management and his aim is to create bio-diversity, a healthy environment, added value products and food, a livelihood for woodland workers and farmers and benefits for the local community. His vision is to encourage such woodlands all over Britain.

How to learn about truly living a Permaculture lifestyle, 22 Oct 2001
We have all read or heard descriptions of how our world needs to change. But much of what I've heard or read (or said myself, especially after a drink or two!) doesn't adequately bridge the gap between theory and practice. The Woodland Way bridges this gap, and does it well. It sets out Ben's thesis and original vision for sustainable woodland management in Britain. I found it a most inspiring book in its practicality and "do-ability".

Ben taught the permaculture design course that I took, and I have him to thank for opening my eyes to the whole PC design process. One can see this process underlying Ben's approach to woodlands in general and to his own land throughout this book. Reading it has opened my eyes to a new, much more holistic way of using and living in and with woodlands in Britain. The range of sustainable, income-generating ways that Ben uses his own woodland is truly astonishing (just look at the amazing "Analysis of Ben Law's Livelihood" in the centre of the book!), let alone what he suggests as options for woodlands in general.

The Woodland Way is packed with detail. For many areas this detail is more than adequate to use the book as an instructional guide. For other aspects of woodland management, Ben has provided an overview that starts the reader on a path needing further information. Here the extensive and excellent appendices come into their own. They are packed with extra information, further references and contact details for many woodland related organisations. They enhance its value greatly and turn it from a very readable book into a hugely usable reference as well. This aspect of the book in particular is very similar in style to its sister publication Plants for a Future. I am sure that my copy of the Woodland Way will become as dog-eared as Plants for a Future has become - the best review that any author could wish for!

If I have a criticism of the book, it is only the very minor one that it has a slight southern English bias in its plant information and recommendations. Ben does warn that some of the plants that he lists may not thrive everywhere in Britain. Having moved to West Wales after living just down the road from Ben, it is surprising just how different the two climates are. For instance, bluebells are a native woodland indicator in Ben's bioregion, here in Ceredigion they grow on almost any suitable roadside verge that isn't cut too frequently, as well as on many bracken covered hill slopes! But you can fill in such info from your own local observations so don't let that put you off. If you want to learn about truly living a Permaculture lifestyle as well as working woodlands

A wood that pays is a wood that stays, 30 Aug 2007
An excellent book for students and landowners, it starts with a brief history of woodland in Britain, followed by a chapter on tree biology and sylvicultural systems which is comprehensive and written in refreshingly plain english. The native and commonly used non-native trees are then detailed followed by how to draw up a management plan, essential if you want grant aid. Then the nitty-gritty of planting, protecting, measurement and marketing.

This is a very practical book on managing woodlands as a whole, very sensitive to their wildlife and landscape value but stressing that woodlands that pay are more likely to last.

A Starr read!, 29 Mar 2006
I found this book to be an insightful and stimulating guide to managing woodlands. The authour's writing style holds your attention and the information supplied is highly relevant and will be of value to a wide range of readers. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with a keen interest in purchasing or managing woodlands in the future.

Good Introduction, 07 Jan 2006
This book is an excellent introduction to Forest Management. It starts from the beginning, with no assumption of prior knowledge.

Ideal for potential forestry students as well as those with an interest in woodland.

Informative Book........, 26 Oct 2007
I bought this as it seemed an interesting read. I'm glad I did!

In brief:

It starts off in China, showing how salt was won using gas fires to heat brine, with mud insulated bamboo pipes to provide the flames. The next great event is that of the discovery of the great cod fisheries off Newfoundland and also that cod could be salted and would not turn rancid like herring.

Also contains interesting facts such as until quite recently salt was a government monopoly in Italy and could only be bought from tobacconists (cancer and high blood pressure in one place!) and that gold was not traded weight for weight with salt, although it does show the great value placed upon it. Mark Kurlansky did his reserach well for this.

Elevates chips from blah to sublime, 25 Jan 2006
I'm occasionally scolded for using too much salt. SALT: A WORLD HISTORY simply reinforces the fact that NaCl has been in the human diet for millennia. So, get off my back already. If God hadn't wanted me to eat the stuff, he wouldn't have given me kidneys.

Besides being a narrative of how salt has been harvested through the ages, either by brine evaporation or the mining of rock salt, SALT is also a history of its link to food preservation and preparation and governments. Whether it be cod, cheese, herring, ham, beef, anchovies, butter, Tabasco sauce, sauerkraut, pickles, ketchup, or "1000-year-old" eggs, salt makes it happen. And successive bureaucracies over the centuries have harnessed the production, sale and shipment of salt for the enrichment of national coffers through monopolies and taxation schemes, some of them disastrously misguided. Perhaps most illustrative of the latter is the chapter describing Britain's curtailment of indigenous salt production in India during the Raj period. This imperial policy, designed to protect the domestic English salt industry, was of such detriment to large segments of the Indian population that it was the issue that sparked Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience, ultimately leading to that colony's independence.

I would award five stars except for two statements made by author Mark Kurlansky in his chapter about salt and the American Civil War. These assertions have trivial impact on the book as a whole, but are so sloppy as to make me wonder about the accuracy of his interpretation of more relevant facts.

Regarding Confederate general George Pickett, who received a pouch of precious salt as a wedding gift: "... (he) later reached the most northerly point of any Confederate in combat when he ... led a ruinous charge up a sloping Pennsylvania field - the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg." The author is referring, of course, to Pickett's Charge, and perhaps he was speaking figuratively. While it is fact that one of his brigades briefly breached the Union line at Bloody Angle, it was that unit's commander, Brigadier General Louis Armistead, who was mortally wounded inside the Union position and was arguably the one who led the charge. Pickett wasn't in front on that one. Also, the site of that valiant effort was south of the town of Gettysburg, which had been occupied by the Confederates two days previous.

Further on, Kurlansky trips when describing the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee as "a standoff". Really? While Federal forces under Ulysses Grant took a shellacking on the first day of the battle, they rallied on the second to drive the Confederates into a full-scale retreat from the battlefield. Moreover, Albert Sidney Johnston, who began Shiloh commanding the Confederate forces and was perhaps the South's most respected general at the time, was killed. Though casualties were roughly the same on both sides, my scorecard has this as a Northern win.

But, I digress.

SALT is one of those books about something we take for granted that captivates the reader with useless but fun facts. Did you know that pastrami (salted beef) is of Romanian origin, that Laplanders drink salted coffee, that a Swedish favorite is salted licorice candy, that 51% of U.S. salt use is to de-ice roads, or that there's a working salt mine 1,200 feet below Detroit?

Curiously, though, Kurlansky says not one word about that most mystical of culinary inventions, salt on chips. What was he thinking?

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 26 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and military empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon farmers in France discovered that curdled milk drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Trade in salt and salted foods shaped economies for centurie, 23 Jul 2005
"Salt; A World History," by Mark Kurlansky is a meticulously researched account of how trade in salt...and salted foods shaped global economies for centuries. The production of salt powered empires. Moreover, the salting of fish, fowl and hams fed soldiers and sailors for extended periods...allowing for the expansion of trade and empires.

The Roman Empire required salt for its soldiers and at times soldiers were paid in salt...which was the origin of the word "salary"...and the expression "worth his salt" or "earning his salt," according to Kurlansky. After the fall of Rome, Venice became the dominant commerical force in Europe. To this end, salt trade maintained Venice's palatial public building and the complex hydralic system that prevented the metropolis from washing away.

Soon France farmers discovered that curdled mild drained and preserved in salt made many different types of cheese. In Parma, Italy the production of salted "Prosciutto" ham and "Parmesan" cheese made the city famous. The same thing happened with the production of salted "Salami" in Felino and Genoa, Italy. However, a major factor in the prodcution of salted fish was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church's decision to forbide the eating of meat on religious days and the Lenten fast (40 days) and all Fridays. This was serious business...under English law at the time the penalty for eating meat on Friday was hanging. Consequently, trade in dried fish boomed...especially for Northern Cod, which had a white flesh with little fat (fat resists salt) and dried easily.

Page after page of this book is filled with significant historical information on how salt impacted economies especially with sea vessels and river steamboats. The author also includes little tid-bits of information about the develpment of our language...particularly the origin of expressions. For instance, when early American settlers hunted they would leave red herring along the trail because the strong smell would confuse wolves which is the origin of the expression "red herring," meaning..."false trail." Finally, Kurlansky explains that "Generals from George Washington to Napoleon discovered without salt...war is a desperate situation...salt was needed to treat wounds, preserve food for soldiers and for the diet of the calvary's horses." Recommended.

Bert Ruiz

You'll never look at food in the same way again..., 26 Sep 2003
As I started reading this book, I thought to myself that Mark Kurlansky had performed a miracle, and actually made the subject of the history of salt quite interesting.

However, as you delve deeper into the book, you appreciate two things. First, just how important salt was in history - Kurlansky isn't exaggerating when he says wars have been fought, lost and won over salt. Second, how the author does actually have a very good writing style about him - the numerous fascinating facts he brings out may not have been quite so fascinating if told by a different author.

For me, two things put the book into perspective. These two things are explained about two-thirds of the way through the book, and suddenly make you realise why salt has been so important to society, governments, armies, etc.etc.etc throughout history - and why we can take it for granted now.

More than an epic history of salt (and it does actually work on that level too - such is Kurlansky's depth of research), this is packed so full of great little facts that it's also just a great read. Recommended for anyone who wants to understand more about a substance that's so common, it's very easy to take for granted these days. You just won't look at food in the same way again...

Interesting and useful, but not enough pictures!, 05 Feb 2008
This book is well-written, informative and useful. However, I think it would have been greatly improved if the lists of natives plants had been accompanied by photos, which would make the selection of plants much easier for less experienced gardeners.

Exactly what I was looking for, 17 May 2007
After the recent (delightful) arrival of roe deer in my garden I bought this book yesterday and read it straight through - it has exactly the right kind of information on gardening for wildlife: why exactly you should plant native plants rather than exotics. Which butterflies and birds feed on which plants. How to propagate wildflowers. How to arrange shrubs and trees to provide better shelter and animal cover. It's Chris Baines's attitude which is the most refreshing - got big bites out of your foliage? Good, he says, it shows you're providing food for xy and z insects, which are food for birds, which are food for larger birds, foxes and so on. I am lucky enough to have a very large country garden, but this book is suitable even if all you have is a city balcony. I am hoping to put his ideas on different kinds of meadow planting, ponds and wetland planting into effect by next summer. A really good read.

Excellent book, 25 May 2005
This is the book I use all the time for my work as a wildlife garden designer. I also keep stocks of this book to sell to clients, so they can get the most out of their wildlife gardens, whether we (www.wildlifeservices.co.uk) build them or not.

An essential read for wildlife enthusiasts, 29 Apr 2005
I can only give this book 5 stars as it is a book that is consistantly recommended where wildlife gardening is concerned. Not to say that it couldn't be improved, but it is a very enjoyable read. It strikes a good balance between narrative and practicle tips (mostly in the form of tables) explaining the ways in which you can attract wildlife to your garden. For example in one table it shows you how many species a particular tree attracts. Now if your expecting the book to name all 300+ species oak (quercus robur) attracts then your in for a dissapointment. Although it would be a vast undertaking if someone were to do that complete with pictures of the species then that would appeal to my passion for details in areas concerning wildlife.

It not only deals with trees but also our native flowers. Again not really naming all the species that they attract a lot of the time. But then again you don't really expect that from what is essentially a beginners guide.

Anyone willing to take their knowlege of wildlife gardening to the next level I would seriously recommend this book.

Does everything it says on the cover..., 28 Dec 2001
This an excellent and well written book. There are sadly only a few books on creating wildlife habitats in your garden and this is the best one I have read.Included are sections on each area of the garden, useful lists of the best plants to grow, ideas for new habitat areas to create, I have followed some of the ideas and have seen the amount of wildlife in our garden grow consdierably, last year we didnt have to spray for any harmful insects and this winter we have had a huge selection of birds in the garden that simply werent there last year.The only downside would be the lack of clarity on what exacly to feed and when for birds - other than that this is an excellent, well written and informative book - if you are at all interested in the subject BUY IT NOW!!

When demand outstrips supply, 26 Sep 2005
Overshoot: when demand overtakes supply.

I recall buying the original edition of this book back in 1972, and also recall the rubbishing it got from those who believed it was all scare mongering.

The events of the 1970's should have acted as wake-up call, but they now seem like a distant memory: the three-day-week, the power cuts, the petrol rationing coupons (never implemented).

Since 1972, growth has been given a huge boost by globalisation, and the take-offs in China and India.

When this book was published in its 1992 edition - 'Beyond the Limits' - the authors warned that unsustainability was already evident: deforestation, climate change, the ozone hole.

They point to the failure of various international summits to get a grip on the problem.

It seems that our elites are vaguely aware that there is a problem here, and mention it in passing to give the impression that they on the case. It is usually on the list of the many things the Prime Minister is going to sort out before dinner.

The Kyoto protocols were some sort of triumph. But the developing nations, like China and India were not included and George W Bush doesn't seem to be persuaded that there's a problem.

The lack of urgency is widespread: as the victims of Katrina and Rita now know better than the rest of us.

Yet it's all something we know. We all know, for example, that the oil is going to dry up some day, but what the heck? It won't be next week, will it?

But someday it is going to be someone else's next week.

When that time comes, all the lost local skills will suddenly be missed. For that is what it will be: a return to the local economy. Your food, your shelter, your clothing, will all have be sourced locally. In the UK's case it's drop-back over two hundred years, minus the skills that were around in those days.

So, for the third time since 1972, the authors lay it all before us: what needs to be done.

First, and most painfully, there is no time to be lost:

"The longer the world economy takes to reduce its ecological footprint and move towards sustainability, the lower the population and material standard of living that will be ultimately supportable. At some point delay means collapse."

In the chapter "Transitions to a Sustainable System" the authors show us just how dramatic the changes need to be.

They offer our elites the chance to start the changes now, while there is time to manage the changeover.

They all make sense, but they require something more than political action, they require an end to individualism as we have known it. This is the leap many people will not be able to make

Out must go the competition for individual power, status, and wealth which are the engines of the current society. Reflect on that: and you see the enormity of the task.

Good enough, 23 Sep 2006
The problem faced by anyone writing about woodland management is that there are so many types of woodland, each of which can be managed in several ways, so their books often end up as a series of generalisations and lacking in detail.
Ben Law's book is the best I have read on the subject, and it is particularly pleasing in its honesty and aspects of its detail.
This is a realistic book, not given to overstatement.
I am not entirely sure whether there is a difference between sensible woodland management and the permaculture approach. I have planted 150 acres of new woodland and manage it along the lines outlined in the book without ever having heard of Permaculture before, but if nothing else I have found this book has been very encouraging, and feel reasured that I am doing most things "right"

An inspirational and enjoyable book, 18 Dec 2001
The author, writes from the heart and obviously has a very deep commitment to practical sustainability. He lives in his own woodlands, 'Prickly Nut Wood' in Lodsworth and he has recently been granted permission for a permanent home there. There are plenty of excellent photographs adding vision to his text. He covers every conceivable issue relating to wood, woodlands and woodland management. Some of his ideas are radical alternatives to conventional woodland management and his aim is to create bio-diversity, a healthy environment, added value products and food, a livelihood for woodland workers and farmers and benefits for the local community. His vision is to encourage such woodlands all over Britain.

How to learn about truly living a Permaculture lifestyle, 22 Oct 2001
We have all read or heard descriptions of how our world needs to change. But much of what I've heard or read (or said myself, especially after a drink or two!) doesn't adequately bridge the gap between theory and practice. The Woodland Way bridges this gap, and does it well. It sets out Ben's thesis and original vision for sustainable woodland management in Britain. I found it a most inspiring book in its practicality and "do-ability".

Ben taught the permaculture design course that I took, and I have him to thank for opening my eyes to the whole PC design process. One can see this process underlying Ben's approach to woodlands in general and to his own land throughout this book. Reading it has opened my eyes to a new, much more holistic way of using and living in and with woodlands in Britain. The range of sustainable, income-generating ways that Ben uses his own woodland is truly astonishing (just look at the amazing "Analysis of Ben Law's Livelihood" in the centre of the book!), let alone what he suggests as options for woodlands in general.

The Woodland Way is packed with detail. For many areas this detail is more than adequate to use the book as an instructional guide. For other aspects of woodland management, Ben has provided an overview that starts the reader on a path needing further information. Here the extensive and excellent appendices come into their own. They are packed with extra information, further references and contact details for many woodland related organisations. They enhance its value greatly and turn it from a very readable book into a hugely usable reference as well. This aspect of the book in particular is very similar in style to its sister publication Plants for a Future. I am sure that my copy of the Woodland Way will become as dog-eared as Plants for a Future has become - the best review that any author could wish for!

If I have a criticism of the book, it is only the very minor one that it has a slight southern English bias in its plant information and recommendations. Ben does warn that some of the plants that he lists may not thrive everywhere in Britain. Having moved to West Wales after living just down the road from Ben, it is surprising just how different the two climates are. For instance, bluebells are a native woodland indicator in Ben's bioregion, here in Ceredigion they grow on almost any suitable roadside verge that isn't cut too frequently, as well as on many bracken covered hill slopes! But you can fill in such info from your own local observations so don't let that put you off. If you want to learn about truly living a Permaculture lifestyle as well as working woodlands

OK, but could go further., 23 Jul 2008
Easily readable book covering the problems of further oil exploration, discovery and extraction, and then talks briefly about the problems of global warming. He then goes on to talk about alternatives to oil. Here he gets a little confused between two separate things, one, the source of energy, and two, the delivery of that energy to where it's needed. Oil does both of these. Roberts talks about a possible future "hydrogen economy" as the most viable alternative, while dismissing nuclear and renewables and other sources of energy, but hydrogen is not an energy source: it is an energy delivery method. Some energy source has to make the hydrogen in the first place. Therefore his dismissal of solar and nuclear is not as easy as he makes out. Also, he dismisses geothermal energy in less than a sentence, which is far less than it deserves. In doing this, he confuses the physically possible with the economically viable. Solar, nuclear and geothermal are at least physically viable as alternatives, as they can probably produce the required energy: the only question is their economics. His discussion of their economics is perhaps valid, but economics is all relative. The question is at what point other energy sources become economic and what the consequences of using them are.

All that is less of a review, and more of a critique. While the book is highly topical, and very readable without dumbing down, it confuses a number of points that need to be distinguished.

Peak Oil - and what happens next, 24 Apr 2007
Paul Roberts' The End of Oil, is a thorough and comprehensive study of the petroleum economy, a book that examines the three-pronged threats to the existing energy order: oil depletion, environmental [...] and geopolitical instability.

Roberts' analysis on depletion asks the question, `what should we do before the oil runs dry?' For run dry it will. Peak Oil, as the subject has come to be known, is based on variables, some known and some unknown. Disregarding the most wildly optimistic forecasts proposed by mouthpieces within the Saudi Arabian and United States' oil businesses (as well as those with the current occupiers of the pro-oil Whitehouse), production of oil is reasonably estimated to peak around the year 2025. After that, oil reserves will be in terminal decline (some analysts say that production has already peaked). If the developed countries of this planet are to maintain their standards of life and if less developed countries want to give their citizens the same access to energy (and everything that goes with it: education, health care, material goods and so forth), how is this to be achieved? What is the solution to demand that is rapidly escalating and oil supplies that are dwindling?

After articulating in some depth the scale of the problem, without reverting to "the end is nigh" doom-mongering, Roberts examines potential solutions: from coal (massive reserves but an environmental catastrophe) and nuclear (`clean' if you don't mind burying the waste in your back garden), to so-called `alternatives' such as solar and wind, to liquefied natural gas and hydrogen fuel cell micro grids (but no mention, alas, of the ellusive zero-point technologies).

These solutions also bring in the second facet of the book, environmental [...]. Just what is the impact of oil on the environment? This is not simply analysing the automotive industry's reaction to miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency, which Roberts does but also looking at the construction of modern buildings - how construction firms win bids by offering the lowest up-front costs, which often means incredibly wasteful energy usage; more expensive construction techniques that actually reduce long-term running costs by fuel efficiencies are often seen as uncompetitive in the immediate short-term. Roberts also discusses alternative energy generating techniques and just how much of an impact this could have, given the proper government backing. The Kyoto Protocol and carbon emissions - why 550 parts per million is pretty much the threshold below which the planet can sustain life without the threat of severe and permanent damage? Discussed. Why, even if carbon emissions were cut to zero immediately, they would still keep on rising? Discussed. What we can do about this? Discussed.

As with the rest of this book, Roberts' examines so many other issues that here I can only hint at the amount of information that this book contains.

Paul Roberts also breaks down the geopolitical implications of the existing order: why the price of oil is so volatile, what the relationship betwixt the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is based around (read Craig Unger's superb book, House of Bush, House of Saud, for much more on this disturbing connection), why Big Oil has a vested interest in the status quo, in that to upgrade existing energy infrastructure would literally take trillions of dollars and oil companies are making money without spending this capital on unproven energy technologies. Again, these few sentences can only hint at the thorough research that Roberts has undertaken, in order to bring these complex and often subtle factors to light.

Roberts does also pose solutions, not simply articulate the problems. In short, there is no magic bullet but a combination of several programmes might go some way to ensuring that all citizens of this planet have a future - ultimately a combination of energy efficiency strategies (supply is running out, so make savings in the consumption side of the equation) and alternative fuel sources, coupled with governmental incentives to consumers and suppliers, alongside benefits to less developed countries, to help them to modernise their energy economies and leapfrog the worst aspects of the West's industrial revolution development.

For just one example: with the car industry, an idea might be to internalise externalities. With the tobacco industry, the cost of growing the leaf and bringing it to market is quite low. The price of cigarettes is relatively high because governments' recognise that there are costs associated with smoking that are borne by society (the externalities) - most notably, hospital care for patients suffering from self-inflicted-smoking-related cancers. Therefore, cigarettes are highly taxed in order to off-set the costs that the product causes, to place that cost back on the manufacturer. If this logical approach was applied to cars, the cost of an inefficient large car or so-called Sports Utility Vehicle would be much higher because the environmental cost of bringing that oil to the market would be placed back where it belongs; the costs of maintaining a large military presence in the Middle East, combined with the costs to the health care