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Cargando... El Hombre que tuvo el coraje de cambiar la historia (2001)por Giles Milton
Books Read in 2023 (4,175) Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. The titular character shows up about 200 pages in. It was interesting, for anyone with an interest in colonialism or the spice trade ( ) Clearly the author made a deep investment as to his research, and came out brilliantly, though a bit obviously biased. This is a real adventure, fast-paced, full of commerce, torture, high-seas piracy and warfare, street fights and horrors on numerous kind...all with a backdrop of sensuous spice and allegiance to one's crown, daring and hope. This story has a bearing not only on the obvious but also our American history as it pertains to New York, which Milton spins out very well. Certainly not easy to read the barbarous acts, the injustices, the dashed hopes, but an exciting, important read for sure. Fascinating and detailed research into the 16-17th century spice trade, in which Britain vied with the Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish to control the lucrative trade. The disputes between Britain and the Netherlands were particularly bitter and brutal, resulting in several Anglo-Dutch wars. Spoiler alert, Britain had the last laugh over the Dutch, exchanging the tiny Spice Islands Run for New Amsterdam, otherwise known as Manhattan! The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago--remote, tranquil, and now largely ignored. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, however, Run's harvest of nutmeg turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a fierce and bloody battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and a small band of ragtag British adventurers led by the intrepid Nathaniel Courthope. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland, but in return was given another small island, Manhattan.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.
The British acquisition of Manhattan was due as much to other factors, not least of which was the propensity of the island's already self-absorbed residents to steal chunks of timber and stone from its main fort for use in building their own homes. As for Manhattan's rise and rise, that would seem to have a little to do with the inhabitants who remained when the British sailed out through the Verrazano Narrows in 1783, leaving the place in rubble. But this overreaching detracts only slightly from what is a rousing historical romp. Milton leaves one both yearning for a time when the world seemed full of infinite adventure and appalled by what greed did to such a paradise. It is particularly sobering to read of the tendency of the Europeans to slaughter anyone they came across. A Dutch sailor's reaction to another orgy of bloodletting visited upon the Bantam Javanese for asking too high a price for their nutmeg sums it up splendidly: ''There was nothing missing and everything was perfect except what was wrong with ourselves.'' Pertenece a las series editorialesDistinciones
In 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret mission - to persuade the islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. This infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to control the world's nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth. A beautifully told adventure story and a fascinating depiction of exploration in the seventeenth century, NATHANIEL'S NUTMEG sheds a remarkable light on history. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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