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Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History
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| List Price: | £7.99 |
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Product Description
In 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world’s nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth.
A beautifully told adventure story and a fascinating depiction of exploration in the seventeenth century, NATHANIEL’S NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #26806 in Books
- Published on: 2000-03-16
- Original language: English
- Binding: Paperback
- 400 pages
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Consider the humble jar of nutmeg pushed to the back of your kitchen cupboard, among all the other spices that you hardly ever use. Would you believe that nutmeg formed the basis for one of the most bitter international conflicts of the 17th century, and was also intimately connected to the rise to global pre-eminence of New York City? Strange but true; nutmeg was one of the most prized commodities in Renaissance Europe, and its fascinating story is told in Giles Milton's delightful book Nathaniel's Nutmeg.
The book deals with the competition between England and Holland for possession of the spice- producing islands of South-East Asia throughout the 17th century. Packed with stories of heroism, ambition, ruthlessness, treachery, murder, torture and madness, Nathaniel's Nutmeg offers a compelling story of European rivalry in the Tropics, thousands of miles from home, and the mutual incomprehensibility which often comically characterised relations between the Europeans and the local inhabitants of the prized islands.
At the centre of the story lies Nathaniel Courthope, a trusty lieutenant of the East India Company, who took and held the tiny nutmeg-producing island of Run in the face of overwhelming Dutch opposition for more than five years, before being treacherously murdered in 1620. Courthope's heroism led to the English taking the Dutch colony of Manhattan in revenge for the death of Courthope and the loss of Run. The subsequent peace deal between the two nations gave Holland Run and the British Manhattan; New York was born. As Milton wittily remarks, although Courthope's death "robbed England of her nutmeg, it gave her the biggest of apples".
Inevitably inviting comparisons with Dava Sobel's Longitude, Nathaniel's Nutmeg is a charming story, which throws light on a spicy, neglected slice of early Europe's fascination with the East. --Jerry Brotton
Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday
‘A magnificent piece of popular history. ... This is a book to read, reread, then read again to your children.’
Review
‘A magnificent piece of popular history. ... This is a book to read, reread, then read again to your children.’ (Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday )
‘Beautifully touching ... To write a book that makes the reader sit in a trance, lost in his passionate desire to pack a suitcase and go to the fabulous place - that, in the end, is something one would give a sack of nutmeg for.’ (Philip Hensher, The Spectator )
‘Giles Milton tells his adventurous and sometimes grisly tale with relish ... The thoroughness and intelligence of his research underpins the lively confidence with which he deploys it.’ (John Spurling, Times Literary Supplement )
‘A truly gripping tale… His research is impeccable... Once embarked upon the journey of the book, one is loath, sometimes unable... to turn back and abandon it.’ (Martin Booth, The Sunday Times )
'Milton has a terrific eye for the kind of detail that can bring the past vividly to life' (The Spectator )
Customer Reviews
spice of a long forgotton life
A really interesting tale, well researched, but maybe lacking a central character, since the story provides a history of 16th century travel rather than details of Nathaniel as expected from the title.
What more do you want?
This was the first book of his that I read and was absorbed immediately.
I am a teacher of History and it is always great to feel like you have also re-discovered a great secret of the past. It is told with a mixture of the Historian and the story teller which never lets you go.
In a world that has forgotten heroes who actually do something in favour of those who are famous for doing nothing and being nothing, it makes a refreshing change to hear about Nathaniel and his precious nutmeg.
Read it and feel all the better for it.
A consolidated history of the spice trade
Giles Milton has consolidated the history of the spice trade into a readable but detailed account of the Dutch and English trading companies. According to Milton, the plague as well as gastronomy created such a demand for nutmeg and other spices that the return on investment exceeded almost any other commodity. Milton explains how the companies were put together with the permission of the crowns but maintaining by common individuals willing to gamble their very lives. Preserving trade in the islands while England and the Netherlands engaged in war after war in Europe, on the ocean and on the islands, is the majority of the drama Milton describes. Nathaniel receives the title of the book I believe not because of his importance in the spice trade but because he was the most courageous and tragic character in a story filled with bold but cursed adventurers. Milton does not avoid the unpleasantness the traders inflicted on the natives of the islands or each other. Neither does he paint the traders as demons. Thankfully this book is not an academic criticism of this period in history. Milton avoids being boring and self righteous by writing a story about incredible people facing extraordinary challenges, not an academic deconstruction of social forces. This may offend people who look for things to offend them. Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a full but fluid history of the spice trade and naval exploration.
