Nathaniel's Nutmeg - Giles Milton

Last summer there was a glut of historical novels in my house. I read The Arcanum (story of porcelain), Longitude (story of Clocks, Daughters of Britannia (story of diplomatic wives through the centuries) and then Nathanial's Nutmeg, the story of the spice islands of Banda and Run. If you enjoy these type of books, then you'll enjoy Nathaniel's Nutmeg. It's really well researched and most of it is quite interesting. There are some bits where the historical detail can get a bit much, but other bits where you are really drawn in. You actually spend most of the book waiting for Nathaniel to turn up, which is a bit of a disappointment if you bought ...

NN is chock-full of buccaneers raiding gold-laden Spanish galleons, courageous explorers discovering new continents and exotic ports filled with vice and spices. It brings back the half forgotten pleasures of the Treasure Island and Peter Pen and submerges you in a bygone world of danger and adventure. Therefore, it’s not surprising NN became a wholly unexpected bestseller in the past two years. NN is first and foremost the story of spices. Not the curry and all-spice of today, bringing some life into the bland European food. In Early Europe nutmeg and cinnamon were all-curing medicines, which could fight the Black Death, be used as an aphrodisiac or ...