Nathaniel's Nutmeg
3 journalers for this copy...
Very interesting! The story of the spice race. Who knew that the sprinkle of nutmeg on my holiday eggnog had such a long, adventurous and tragic history? Men endured dangerous voyages, deadly illnesses, seiges, battles, torture and executions for the possession of a handful of backwater islands where nutmeg grows because nutmeg and other spices represented huge profits.
Milton does an excellent job of bringing the history of the spice trade to life.
I would have liked a time line. He necessarily goes back and forth in time to bring us coherent stories of various voyages, explorations and peoples' histories. But I would have liked to be able to see what was happening in the "spiceries" while Barents was eating polar bear liver in the Russian arctic, without having rely on my poor memory for dates.
Also the native Bandanians receive very little mention. The hero of the story, Nathaniel Courthope, defends the island of Run for years against a Dutch seige but most of the defenders seem to be natives that have sworn allegiance to a distant English monarch. They help build the defenses, shoot the muskets, and starve with the English as well as spying and smuggling letters to and from the prisoners being held by the Dutch. Yet we do not know their numbers, let alone their names, and it appears those that survived were sold into slavery by the Dutch. But that might just reflect that the English did not bother to make much of a record of them, so there was little for Milton to tell us.
To me, one telling note is Milton's description of a modern day 10 mile trip by power boat to Run from Neira as "treacherous". When in Nathaniel's time, it seems that the natives made many of these trips, rowing or paddling and probably at least partially at night to avoid detection. And Nathaniel's disappearance or death is a demonstration of the hazards of that crossing.
Milton does an excellent job of bringing the history of the spice trade to life.
I would have liked a time line. He necessarily goes back and forth in time to bring us coherent stories of various voyages, explorations and peoples' histories. But I would have liked to be able to see what was happening in the "spiceries" while Barents was eating polar bear liver in the Russian arctic, without having rely on my poor memory for dates.
Also the native Bandanians receive very little mention. The hero of the story, Nathaniel Courthope, defends the island of Run for years against a Dutch seige but most of the defenders seem to be natives that have sworn allegiance to a distant English monarch. They help build the defenses, shoot the muskets, and starve with the English as well as spying and smuggling letters to and from the prisoners being held by the Dutch. Yet we do not know their numbers, let alone their names, and it appears those that survived were sold into slavery by the Dutch. But that might just reflect that the English did not bother to make much of a record of them, so there was little for Milton to tell us.
To me, one telling note is Milton's description of a modern day 10 mile trip by power boat to Run from Neira as "treacherous". When in Nathaniel's time, it seems that the natives made many of these trips, rowing or paddling and probably at least partially at night to avoid detection. And Nathaniel's disappearance or death is a demonstration of the hazards of that crossing.
Journal Entry 2 by itpdx at Book Box, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (8/26/2009 UTC) at Book Box, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
This is on its way to Ri as part of the Passport to the World VBB.
This is on its way to Ri as part of the Passport to the World VBB.
Thanks for sending this one so quickly, itpdx! I look forward to reading it!
Journal Entry 4 by Ri at 2011 BookCrossing Convention in -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, etc, Virginia USA on Thursday, April 14, 2011
Released 13 yrs ago (4/15/2011 UTC) at 2011 BookCrossing Convention in -- Mail or by hand-rings, RABCK, meetings, etc, Virginia USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
In an effort to pare down the massive TBR pile and be realistic about what I am going to read in the near future, this little book needs to get back on its traveling way! To the lucky finder of this book...
Thank you for taking the time to visit us at Bookcrossing. If this is your first visit to our site...welcome & I'm sure you'll find it fun!
All over the world people are following their books travels through Book Crossing & by making an entry you will be helping keep this books unique traveling history up-to-date.
You can make your first journal entry about this book now! Just tell us where you found it....& don't worry about giving your name, you can remain anonymous.
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Enjoy the book!
Edited to add: I released this on a bench during my walk from the Metro station to the National Zoo.
Found it in DC as I was walking. I plan to read it, but I'm shipping out for Basic Training for the Navy tomorrow (Nuke), and I don't know if I'll be able to start and finish it before I arrive. And if I do, it'll be two months before I can write up a review and say where I left it ( '-')
