Nathaniel's Nutmeg

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Nathaniel's Nutmeg tells the story of the Anglo-Dutch battle for the spice islands in Indonesia - a conflict that raged on and off for centuries. The way the two lines are drawn together to connect facts by the author is interesting for scholarly reading but I surely wouldn’t recommend this to someone who has just arrived in Indonesia and is looking for information about the country. This despite primary documents that indicate that this guy was a rough merchant known to filch from the company). Giles Milton leaves many of his primary sources verbatim, quoted in 17th century English like what Shakespeare used. It seems to have been chosen for rhyming effect instead of any substantial role played by Nathaniel Courthope.

Unfortunately, there are almost no on-the-ground women mentioned in this history: besides Queen Elizabeth I, there is only one recurring woman in these histories, Widow Mariam Hawkins (then Mrs. Towerson), whose second husband is murdered in the Massacre of Amboyne but the author fails to tell us what happened to her, if anything.But when I sing the praises of narrative nonfiction, I must remember that there are also terrible narrative nonfiction books out there too. Chancellor had planned for such an eventuality, suggesting that the ships regroup at Vardohuus, a small island in the Barents Sea. The rest of the book is a times interesting and at other times distinctly dull and often highly tenuous to the story being told.

He can at times seem to glorify the English, while putting some of their bitter rivals, such as the Dutch, in a less delicate light. I miss, however, more references to sources other than the British ones: I mean local, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch, who were the active countries in the region at the time of this developments. As Milton wittily remarks, although Courthope's death "robbed England of her nutmeg, it gave her the biggest of apples".Maybe one day people will laugh at the lenghts we go now to get access and control over the oil resources.

The British held Run Island for close to a decade and survived food shortages, blockades, and the constant threat of Dutch invasion. Milton’s use of irony was adroitly placed, often he shows sympathy with the poor natives who are paid small amount of fee for their nutmeg which could be resold very expensively in Europe.A brilliant adventure story of unthinkable hardship and savagery, the navigation of uncharted waters, and the exploitation of new worlds, Nathaniel's Nutmeg is a remarkable chapter in the history of the colonial powers. Previous books include D-Day: The Soldiers' Story and Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which was a Sunday Times best-seller.

As nearly every spice island fell to Dutch control, an English merchant, Nathaniel Courthope, and a few dozen other merchants were able to sneak in and declare British sovereignty over Run Island—not too challenging a task as native islanders were so upset with the harshness of Dutch rule that they actually invited British sovereignty in exchange for protection. On the whole, the author Milton has adeptly drawn a narrative of how the governments of those Western European powers learn from their early mistakes and correct them.Perhaps those who are into colonial history would enjoy this book, although it’s heavily one-sided in the way only European accounts are included in this story. role as a besieged commander while very heroic and all, was not very instrumental in deciding the fate of the islands. The history of the East India Companies (Dutch and English) trying to find a Northeast Passage is also interesting, but these histories are also one of failure and horrible death. A highly-colored chronicle of the European race for control of the spice islands (the small south-east Asian archipelago that produced the entire world supply of nutmeg and cloves during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries), Nathaniel's Nutmeg introduces the reader to a rollicking cast of brigands, merchants and adventurers, all of whom are out for a piece of the spice pie. I had previously read Samurai William which despite its flaws I had much enjoyed and the title and tag on the cover because this book does not live up to its cover.