The Spice Route: A History / Edition 1

by John Keay

Overview

The Spice Route is one of history’s greatest anomalies: shrouded in mystery, it existed long before anyone knew of its extent or configuration. Spices came from lands unseen, possibly uninhabitable, and almost by definition unattainable; that was what made them so desirable. Yet more livelihoods depended on this pungent traffic, more nations participated in it, more wars were fought for it, and more discoveries resulted from it than from any other global exchange. Epic in scope, marvelously detailed, laced with drama, The Spice Route spans three millennia and circles the world to chronicle the history of the spice trade. With the aid of ancient geographies, travelers’ accounts, mariners’ handbooks, and ships’ logs, John Keay tells of ancient Egyptians who pioneered maritime trade to fetch the incense of Arabia, Graeco-Roman navigators who found their way to
India for pepper and ginger, Columbus who sailed west for spices, de Gama, who sailed east for them, and Magellan, who sailed across the Pacific on the exact same quest. A veritable spice race evolved as the west vied for control of the spice-producing islands, stripping them of their innocence and the spice trade of its mystique. This enthralling saga, progressing from the voyages of the ancients to the blue-water trade that came to prevail by the seventeenth century, transports us from the dawn of history to the ends of the earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520254169
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	09/17/2007
Series:	California Studies in Food and Culture Series
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

John Keay’s recent books include Sowing the Wind: the Mismanagement of the Middle East 1900–1960 and Last Post: The End of Empire in the Far East.

Editorial Reviews

"This erudite book provides an enthralling look at the 3000-year history of what is possibly the world’s oldest global trade route."

Baltic Outlook - Roger Norum