Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History by Giles

Description: Nathaniel's Nutmeg by Giles Milton The extraordinary adventure-filled story of how England came to own Manhattan in the seventeenth century FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher 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 worlds 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, NATHANIELS NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history. Notes The extraordinary story of how an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, went to war with the Dutch over the then fabulously valuable spice Nutmeg, and set in motion events that led five years later to the founding of New York city. A fascinating depiction of exploration and colonial rivalry in the new world in the early seventheenth century, and of the little known origins of the Big Apple. "A magnificent piece of popular history" Independent On Sunday. "The new Bruce Chatwin" Mail On Sunday. Author Biography Giles Milton is a writer and journalist. He has contributed articles for most of the British national newspapers as well as many foreign publications and specialises in the history of travel and exploration. In the course of his researches, he has travelled extensively in Europe and the Middle East. 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, after finishing it, sit in a trance, lost in his passionate desire to pack a suitcase and go, somehow, to the fabulous place - that, in the end, is something one would give a sack of nutmeg for. -- Philip Hensher, 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 Milton has created a truly gripping tale of jingoistic pride, atrocious cruelty, avarice and double-dealing!His research is impeccable and his narrative reads in part like a modern-day Robert Louis Stevenson novel. Once embarked upon the journey of the book, one is loath, sometimes unable -- as were the characters within it -- to turn back and abandon it. -- Martin Booth, Sunday Times Promotional The extraordinary adventure-filled story of how England came to own Manhattan in the seventeenth century Kirkus UK Review Miltons third book tells the story of how this unimpressive-looking spice was once fought over with the same ardent brutishness we now reserve for crude oil. Doctors in the 17th century considered it the only true specific against the plague. It was also thought to be an aphrodisiac, and excessive consumption was the undoing of the Earl of Dorset. This book traces the struggle, principally between Holland and England, to secure the source of this precious commodity, a remote group of mountainous islands in the East Indies. It is not a very elevating story; the Dutch are portrayed as the villains of the piece while the English are their plucky and bewildered victims, a slant that gives an old-fashioned Boys Own character to the book. This is popular history of the Longitude school by a writer with an infectious enthusiasm for his subject. Helpful maps and illustrations. Review by ANDREW MILLER ANDREW MILLERS books include Casanova and Ingenious Pain, winner of the 1999 IMPAC award. (Kirkus UK) Kirkus US Review Milton (The Riddle and the Knight, not reviewed) deftly and arrestingly captures the sorry history of the European lust for nutmeg and its devastating impact on the Spice Islands. Spices from the Orient were already costly curiosities when 16th-century European pharmacists bestowed upon nutmeg a truly marvelous property: It could cure the plague, they said (and dysentery and sexual torpor and a host of other ailments). As most European cities were disease-ridden pest holes at the time, the value of the rare spice took off like a prairie fire. So started the Spice Wars, a series of squalid, brutal engagements between the English, Dutch, and Portuguese, played out on the small Pacific islands now known as the Moluccas, and recounted here by Milton with beguiling fluidity. Milton traces European involvement with the Spice Islands from the time they were merely an exquisite rumor peddled by spice traders from Constantinople through to the surrender of New Amsterdam to the English in return for the latters quitting the tiny nutmeg island of Run, said island defended by the eponymous Nathaniel Courthope, who with a handful of stalwarts, repelled much larger forces of invasion. Along the way, Milton unfurls more treachery and deceit, acts of political subterfuge and chicanery, displays of cruelty and mortification (along with an occasional show of courage and decency, though "the voice of conscience is never loud" in 16th-century mariners, notes the author) than you could squeeze into a pulp thriller. Its a classic portrait of colonial barbarity that results in the eradication of an entire native population and then ends in a whimper: The British transplanted the trees to colonial Bencoolen and Singapore and Ceylon, and, oh yes, nutmeg didnt cure the plague either. Milton is a storyteller of the first rank, with a knack for quick character sketches, an eye for what is important and what is dross, and a refreshing sense of humor, even amid the smoke and ruin he so well describes. (Kirkus Reviews) Long 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 worlds 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, NATHANIELS NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history. Review Quote 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. Promotional "Headline" The extraordinary adventure-filled story of how England came to own Manhattan in the seventeenth century Details ISBN0340696761 Author Giles Milton ISBN-10 0340696761 ISBN-13 9780340696767 Format Paperback Subtitle How One Mans Courage Changed the Course of History Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom DEWEY 974.7101092 Media Book Edition New edition Language English Illustrations Maps and integrated illustraions Publisher John Murray Press Imprint John Murray Publishers Ltd Short Title Nathaniels Nutmeg UK Release Date 2000-03-16 Year 2000 Publication Date 2000-03-16 Audience General NZ Release Date 2000-04-06 AU Release Date 2000-04-06 Pages 416 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:944794;

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