Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
At a time during the later part of queen Elizabeth's reign, the English and Dutch were in the midst of a spice race. Nutmeg was one of the highly prized spices, as it grew only on a few islands and the apothecaries said it would cure plague. The center is the story of two companies whose charter is to grab as much of the prized spices and bring it back to Europe for huge markups.
The book is very English centric. They are benevolent and ethical. The Dutch are evil, using torture and bully tactics to get their way. But all of the people involved are employees of two companies. It makes for an interesting point that companies used such means to dominate the spice trade.
The title character is more like a footnote than a driving force for the English. He isn't all that interesting. The end result of his actions at Run is to have the Dutch tear out all of the nutmeg trees. The author makes a connection between Run, the spice island, and an island in the New World. This is a more telling outcome. The Dutch, by dominating the spice trade, neglected to diversify. The English, forced to trade in other goods, diversified and didn't depend solely on spices. All monopolies break at some point.
As an introduction to the spice war, it suffices. But since it focuses primarily on the English, other books should be used to gain insight on other points of view.
The book is very English centric. They are benevolent and ethical. The Dutch are evil, using torture and bully tactics to get their way. But all of the people involved are employees of two companies. It makes for an interesting point that companies used such means to dominate the spice trade.
The title character is more like a footnote than a driving force for the English. He isn't all that interesting. The end result of his actions at Run is to have the Dutch tear out all of the nutmeg trees. The author makes a connection between Run, the spice island, and an island in the New World. This is a more telling outcome. The Dutch, by dominating the spice trade, neglected to diversify. The English, forced to trade in other goods, diversified and didn't depend solely on spices. All monopolies break at some point.
As an introduction to the spice war, it suffices. But since it focuses primarily on the English, other books should be used to gain insight on other points of view.
The interesting tale of the battle between the Dutch and the British for control of the Spice Islands of the Far East with plenty of other bits of history and geography thrown in for good measure. The hero of the title, and his exploits, don't get a look in until the last third of the book and, even then, they are to some extent underplayed which makes the title somewhat mendacious. Nonetheless, the island swap that eventually resulted from the eponymous Nathaniel's tenacity could fairly be said to have had a significant impact on the future developments of the conquest of both nations.
I found the account readable enough, but there were quite a lot of switches back in time which were unannounced to someone who reads as fast as I and would have needed even someone who pays full attention to the dates to stop and re-orient themselves were they not to be momentarily confused by the sudden reappearance of characters lost or dead several chapters before.A Bit like that last sentence really. A timeline would have helped methinks.
Should I ever get to Amsterdam again (and I have every intention of being there next year) all those maps, navigational instruments and many of the portraits in the museums will make far more sense having read this book.
I found the account readable enough, but there were quite a lot of switches back in time which were unannounced to someone who reads as fast as I and would have needed even someone who pays full attention to the dates to stop and re-orient themselves were they not to be momentarily confused by the sudden reappearance of characters lost or dead several chapters before.A Bit like that last sentence really. A timeline would have helped methinks.
Should I ever get to Amsterdam again (and I have every intention of being there next year) all those maps, navigational instruments and many of the portraits in the museums will make far more sense having read this book.
The titular character shows up about 200 pages in. It was interesting, for anyone with an interest in colonialism or the spice trade
A story of the race for nutmegs and how several people changed the way things work by their behaviour. Nathaniel is a pivotal character in his attempt to hold a spice island and the tragedy of how he wasn't backed up.
Interesting but really I didn't find it incredibly engaging. I'm not sure why it didn't really work for me and maybe it is the author's style. It might make a very good film.
Interesting but really I didn't find it incredibly engaging. I'm not sure why it didn't really work for me and maybe it is the author's style. It might make a very good film.