Year of the Golden Pig Reading 4: "Nathaniel's Nutmeg"

Okay, reading about spices might not be your thing, but this was really an amazing book. It is about the conflict that grew up between the English and the Dutch over the Spice Islands in Indonesia. It mostly focuses on this trade, and tells the tale of one Nathanial Courthope, even if only in about thirty pages of the book, and his impact on future events. Without him, Manhattan might have remained a Dutch island and there might not be a British presence in India.

Today we don't really worry too much about the Dutch, but they were ruthless in the 16oo's. In this book we see all of the horrible things they did to the Indonesians and to the English. This is a great book if you love torture and war crimes. Surely Indonesian could use this book to get some money from the Hague. It is kind of like Austin Powers said in Goldmember: "There's two things I hate in this world. People who stereotype and the Dutch." I wonder if Michael Myers read this book before writing that.

All in all a good read. Check it out if you have the time.