Giles Milton

Nathaniel's Nutmeg (eBook, ePUB)

or, The True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A true tale of high adventure in the South Seas.

The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the Indonesian archipelago. Just two miles long and half a mile wide, it is remote, tranquil, and, these days, largely ignored.

Yet 370 years ago, Run's harvest of nutmeg (a pound of which yielded a 3,200 percent profit by the time it arrived in England) turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and the British Crown. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland but in return was given Manhattan. This led not only to the birth of New York but also to the beginning of the British Empire.

Such a deal was due to the persistence of one man. Nathaniel Courthope and his small band of adventurers were sent to Run in October 1616, and for four years held off the massive Dutch navy. Nathaniel's Nutmeg centers on the remarkable showdown between Courthope and the Dutch Governor General Jan Coen, and the brutal fate of the mariners racing to Run--and the other corners of the globe--to reap the huge profits of the spice trade. Written with the flair of a historical sea novel but based on rigorous research, Giles Milton's Nathaniel's Nutmeg is a brilliant adventure story by Giles Milton, a writer who has been hailed as the "new Bruce Chatwin" (Mail on Sunday).

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Seitenzahl: 256
• Erscheinungstermin: 10. Juni 2014
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781466873476
• Artikelnr.: 41055212

Autorenporträt

Giles Milton is the million-copy, internationally bestselling author of a dozen works of narrative history. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. One of Milton's previous works, Nathaniel's Nutmeg, is currently being developed into a major screen project. Milton is the writer and narrator of the acclaimed narrative podcast series, Ministry of Secrets, produced by Sony and available on all platforms. He lives in London and Burgundy.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements v
List of Illustrations and Maps X-Xl
Prologue 1
1 Arctic Whirlwinds 9
2 Wonderfully Unwholesome Climes 41
3 Music and Dancing Damsels 66
4 In the Paws of the Lion 97
5 'Admiral,We Are Betrayed!' 134
6 A Rebel at Sea 162
7 The Cannibals' Country 190
8 The Banner of Saint George 219
9 Conflict between Gendemen 245
10 Raising the Blood-Flag 271
11 Trial by Fire and Water 309
12 Striking a Deal 343
13 Epilogue 366
Bibliography 375
Index 379

Rezensionen

A magnificent piece of popular history . . . This is a book to read, reread, then read again to your children Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday