Nathaniel's Nutmeg

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Nathaniel’s Nutmeg by Giles Milton is a historical account which neatly chronicles the race of all the major powers in Western Europe to corner the spice market.

It's informative, but know what you're getting: a history of the spice race over the course of two centuries, and very few accounts from non-Europeans included in the primary sources. The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago--remote, tranquil, and now largely ignored. Banten is Bantam, Aceh is Achin, Mollucas is Molucos, Ambon is Amboyna, and he also misspelled Indonesian first vice president name, Hatta became Hatti. Every instance of an unprovoked attack or secret conspiracy on the part of the Dutch is treated with an attitude of condemnation, yet not of surprise. Interesting read about something I had little real knowledge of--the exploration and battles for control of the East Indies Spice Islands (present day Indonesia) in the 16-17th centuries.About 15% of this book (if that) relates to Nathaniel's Nutmeg - and that story is very interesting. The people are poor and being so far away from the provincial capital (let alone the country's) does not help with their condition. Geographers agreed that this was indeed good news; the chilly northern land mass must surely be a second Cape of Good Hope. Another thing, Nathaniel doesn't appear until towards the end of the book and doesn't do all that much before dying but he makes for a nice title. I had the wrong expectation when I bought this book since I was expecting an account of the colonization of Banda Islands and the struggle of the natives.

The book describes the nearly incredible difficulty of just getting to the Spice Islands, much less surviving there amidst tropical diseases, hostile natives and the incessant fighting among the Europeans. After riding out the gale, Sir Hugh re-established contact with the Confidentia and both headed towards the coastline.Well, I felt it was a flaw to title the book Nathaniel's Nutmeg and tell so much about others and so little about Nathaniel.

One final remark is that when the English look at who have actually done more real harm to them in history, perhaps they should look first at the Dutch. This is an interesting recount of the history of English trade in the East and their battles with the Netherlands for supremacy over a small group of islands, the Bandas Islands, much coveted for their rich harvest of cloves, mace and nutmeg. Full of detail and primary sources -- letters of tortured sailors, greedy merchants, out-of-touch bureaucrats, etc.This book has the wrong name, it should simply be a history of the Banda Islands in the 17th century. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.