Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating tale of adventure, but is it accurate history?
Review: Because I am neither English nor Indonesian nor Dutch, Giles Milton's tale of the epic struggle for control over the Spice Islands came to me as a historic revelation: I've never heard of the story before and the plot could have as well been set on Mars or some other remote planet. As far as the book's genre was concerned, it could easily be classified as adventure or science fiction, and not necessarily popular history. The author got away with picking up a fairly obscure topic that makes him almost immune from any criticism. Giles Milton may be saying perfect truth or may be lying shamelessly, but whatever he says most readers won't be able to contradict because they don't know any better. That is an extraordinarily advantageous position for any author to be in. Many excellent books are published in Russian, so when I inconvenience myself and read in English (or other foreign language), I do so for the sake of cultural and linguistic adventure. Nathaniel's Nutmeg is both. It is an exotic and exiting story, that in many ways feels like one of the classic adventure novels by Alexandre Dumas or Robert Louis Stevenson. The author quotes from (supposedly) historic English texts liberally, keeps the original spelling, and this adds some linguistic spice to his work. Like his nineteenth literary predecessors, Giles Miles paints an uncomplicated black and white world with a broad brush. It is the world where the good guys (the English) struggle against the villains (the Dutch and everybody else). The Dutch are depicted as rapacious, treacherous, duplicitous, cruel race while the English are honest, human, chivalrous, and noble. The Dutch enslave natives and bring them misery while the English are the heralds of freedom who despise the idea of conquest and cherish liberty, and live off fair and honest free trade. Arabs and other Muslim "darkies" are expectedly portrayed as trash. They are wicked and treacherous. When the natives of Spice Islands are pressed against the wall by the wicked Dutch oppressors, poor wretches ally themselves with the British and even petition Nathaniel and other personages to become British subjects only to be slaughtered or sold to slavery to the last man by the evil Netherlanders. The goodness of the English is overwhelming while the evil of their enemies is equally awesome. Now and then this nationalist nonsense goes too far and may strike unbiased reader as outrageous, obscene stuff, but I think it shouldn't, - the book is about entertainment and should be read as such. Five stars.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read - shame about the lack of objectivity
Review: In "Nathaniel's Nutmeg" Giles Milton has created an easily read history of the early spice trade. His central contention is that New York, originally founded by the Dutch, became English in exchange for the Dutch obtaining the rights to the Indonesian isle of Run, the prime source of nutmeg - and the English had the rights to this island through the heroic behaviour of trader Nathaniel Courthope. This is a bit ingenious, because at the time the swap was formalised in a treaty the English had already taken New York, and the Dutch had already taken Run. However, Milton does not overly stress this tenuous thesis, and the book is a great read. Milton charts the history of the spice trade from the first attempts by the English and Dutch to find alternative routes to the Spice Islands via the North, through the founding of both countries' East India Companies to the clash between Portugese, Dutch, English and (lest we forget) Indonesians in the colonisation of the Indonesian archipelago. The book has sufficient detail to convey an impression of extensive research. It avoids being a "dry" read, though, with eye witness accounts of floundering discovery voyages, piracy, scheming and warfare, including torture scenes that as far as I was concerned I could have done without! My problem with the book is that Milton has used an old ploy to make it a lively read: he has assigned a hero (Nathaniel Courthope) and his valiant companions (the English) fighting a dastardly enemy (the Dutch). This was at times hard to accept. For instance, Milton describes in detail the first few English attempts to reach the Spice Islands and bring back spices, all of which failed. He then goes on to compare them with the Dutch who, within the same time frame, launched several fleets that by and large returned laden with spices - and manages to convey the impression that the English were the better mariners, just unlucky. Luck on either side had little to do with it; as in modern business, it was a matter of who made most money available to quickly establish a new venture. The Dutch are painted throughout the book as cruel oppressors of the Indonesian people. One can't argue with that, but the English were little better - a cynical view might be that they just didn't have the same opportunity at mischief since the Dutch already held most trading posts. But I found it disturbing that after a particularly vicious torture scene in which an Indonesian is torn apart for alledgedly being involved in an attempt to burn an English trading post, Milton conveys the impression that whilst regrettable, it was not as bad as what the other guys did. Let's face it: both the Dutch and the English were out for profit, and would do whatever was necessary to get it. Unfortunately for the English, the Dutch were better organised in the early stages of the colonisation race, and that was basically the only difference between them. Still, even as a former Dutchman (so much for my objectivity?) I enjoyed this book and the insight it gave me to the spice trade and colonisation of Indonesia. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A well-written history of Run
Review: The only failure of this book is that it is putting too much of an emphasis on the remotest island of the Banda group (where the English were most involved), even though the rest of the archipelago was actually more important.
So those inspired to get the full picture should also read the more thoroughly-written "Indonesian Banda" by W.A.Hanna which gives a more complete and balaced account of the history of these islands.
Rating:
Summary: Better to read about it than live through it
Review: The real power of this book is that it takes you to the early days (1500s to 1600s)of the spice trade in the East Indies and lets you know what is was really like. With a skillful mix of narrative and quotes from documents (how did those people write all those letters?), Milton lets you know what it really took to get a ship half way around the world and bring it back with a load of nutmeg and other spices. The diseases, the storms, the treachery; its all there and told like and adventure story. Milton's theory in the book in very interesting too, which is that the Dutch eventually traded New Amsterdam to the British for a small spice-loaded island in the Pacific. Whether he's right or not (his theory is clearly well researched) is not critical because Milton is just a terrific writer and you enjoy every page of this historical page-turner. I'll be reading his other books very soon.
Rating:
Summary: A great read - shame about the lack of objectivity
Review: In "Nathaniel's Nutmeg" Giles Milton has created an easily read history of the early spice trade. His central contention is that New York, originally founded by the Dutch, became English in exchange for the Dutch obtaining the rights to the Indonesian isle of Run, the prime source of nutmeg - and the English had the rights to this island through the heroic behaviour of trader Nathaniel Courthope. This is a bit ingenious, because at the time the swap was formalised in a treaty the English had already taken New York, and the Dutch had already taken Run. However, Milton does not overly stress this tenuous thesis, and the book is a great read. Milton charts the history of the spice trade from the first attempts by the English and Dutch to find alternative routes to the Spice Islands via the North, through the founding of both countries' East India Companies to the clash between Portugese, Dutch, English and (lest we forget) Indonesians in the colonisation of the Indonesian archipelago. The book has sufficient detail to convey an impression of extensive research. It avoids being a "dry" read, though, with eye witness accounts of floundering discovery voyages, piracy, scheming and warfare, including torture scenes that as far as I was concerned I could have done without! My problem with the book is that Milton has used an old ploy to make it a lively read: he has assigned a hero (Nathaniel Courthope) and his valiant companions (the English) fighting a dastardly enemy (the Dutch). This was at times hard to accept. For instance, Milton describes in detail the first few English attempts to reach the Spice Islands and bring back spices, all of which failed. He then goes on to compare them with the Dutch who, within the same time frame, launched several fleets that by and large returned laden with spices - and manages to convey the impression that the English were the better mariners, just unlucky. Luck on either side had little to do with it; as in modern business, it was a matter of who made most money available to quickly establish a new venture. The Dutch are painted throughout the book as cruel oppressors of the Indonesian people. One can't argue with that, but the English were little better - a cynical view might be that they just didn't have the same opportunity at mischief since the Dutch already held most trading posts. But I found it disturbing that after a particularly vicious torture scene in which an Indonesian is torn apart for alledgedly being involved in an attempt to burn an English trading post, Milton conveys the impression that whilst regrettable, it was not as bad as what the other guys did. Let's face it: both the Dutch and the English were out for profit, and would do whatever was necessary to get it. Unfortunately for the English, the Dutch were better organised in the early stages of the colonisation race, and that was basically the only difference between them. Still, even as a former Dutchman (so much for my objectivity?) I enjoyed this book and the insight it gave me to the spice trade and colonisation of Indonesia. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read and History Lesson
Review: We have all heard of the "Spice Islands'. Yet few of us know where they are, what islands make up the Spice Islands, and why they were so important. Yet wars were fought over the control of these small, and otherwise insignificant spots of land, spots that took people nine months to reach in the days of sail. Even fewer of us know the part North America played in the war between the Dutch and the English over the Spice Islands. And I won't give away the ending of the main story in this review. To find out, you'll have to read the book! One of the best parts of this book is at the very end, where the Author describes his travels to the Spice Islands today. the difficulity of getting there, and what the inhabitants are doing today. most history books would not have touched upon this, but Milton does an admirable job. Well worth the time to read.
Rating:
Summary: Swashbuckling tales...
Review: I've recently been reading spice-themed books and this one takes the cake as far a swashbuckling tales of merchants-turned-pirates, pirates-turned-merchants and the deadly struggle between the Spainsh, Portugese, English and the Dutch to control the main source of spices. Nathaniel himself only makes an apperance towards the end of the book... but it takes a through and exciting explination of the earlier history to truly understand his heroisim. This book reads like a novel yet, it's all true! The pages are interspersed with captain's log entries, letters and vivid descriptions of the voyages and lands visited on the dangerous journey (1/3 died on the way there, and 1/3 died on the way back) to the spice islands.
Rating:
Summary: amazing tales of colonisation and the high seas
Review: this is definately one of the best non fiction books i have ever come across, the authors approach keeps the material leaping of the page at you, and he really gets into the spirit of the times, thankfully, and doesnt take on this PC, holier than then attitude.
there are so many great stories here, and a lot of amazing facts, the dangers and casual diregard for life of the period are all too vividly illustrated, its hard not to be impressed with the achievements of the various merchants and explorers on their rotting timber boats, and this book really brings the period to life.
Rating:
Summary: Milton is a masterful storyteller
Review: Does author Gilles Milton establish the importance of Nathaniel Courthope in World History? No. Does Milton prove the signifance of the battle over the tiny Spice Island of Run? No, not really. Is "Nathaniel's Nutmeg" a worthy addition to the history of the Spice wars? Absolutely. it is indeed a seminal account of European adventures in the East Indies circa the 16th century.
I never felt Milton established his basic premise, but I never much cared. Nathaniel's Nutmeg is so full of fascinating characters and stirring adventures that is compelling, entertaining reading.
Milton offers life at sea, government/business machinations, treachery, torture and war. The research is thorough, the story telling, captivating.
Rating: 
Summary: Good yarn but little history
Review: Giles Milton tells a good story. His central interest in travel writing and the history of exploration are clear from the start. Most of the book recounts stories of various expeditions, not just to the Far East but also to the Arctic, the Hudson basin and Manhattan. These are mildly linked by the competition between the Dutch and British for the spice trade. However, the accounts of the central expeditions and the conflict over the island of Run, rely almost exclusively on British journals and diaries of the time. Thus the book reflects more the English reactions and prejudices of the time rather than giving an objective historical account. The natures of the two East India companies, the peoples of the Moluccas or the Dutch process of colonisation are sketched only very briefly. Instead life on board ship, the methods of Dutch torture and the banality of the factor's lives are given extensive treatment. While these are interesting, they do not particularly help explain the machinations which led to the Dutch control over the East Indies or the British revenge in taking Manhattan. The book's one-sided use of sources begins to get irritating by the end.
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