The history of an obsession that once shaped the world
In the ancient Egyptian temple of Dayr al-Bahri is preserved the earliest surviving representation of a merchant fleet. Date to around 1495 BC, rows of hieroglyphs record that the pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut sent the fleet one thousand nine hundred miles south to the land of Punt, a mysterious kingdom somewhere in the Horn of Africa, whence it returned in triumph with a priceless cargo of cinnamon. Yet cinnamon never grew there; it comes from the islands of Southeast Asia; the scarcely credible conclusion is that by 1500 BC there was a trade in cinnamon from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other. At some unknown place, the long-forgotten merchants of Punt acquired the spice, and then resold it for the use of the embalmers, cosmeticians, priests, gods and god-kings of the Nile.
These hints of an ancient trade in spices are only the first, tantalisingly obscure fragments of an epic story. For the sake of spices, fortunes have been made, empires built and destroyed, and new worlds discovered. In the seventeenth century more people died for the sake of cloves than in all the European dynastic wars of the period. Perhaps only the story of mankind’s infatuation with precious metals can rival the story of spice in scope; and only the history of silver and gold rivals that of spice for its improbable and extraordinary combination of discovery and conquest, heroism and savagery, greed and violence.
The history of spice encompasses all the old civilizations and the new, from the lands of the Old Testament to the Spice Isands themselves. This is Jack Turner’s first work, but the ambition and brilliance and lucidity of his writing surely mark him out as a new star in the historical firmament. This will be a remarkable book.
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Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR002034405
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. Illustrated (illustrator). Seller Inventory # 296149
Book Description Condition: Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # 16854905-20
Book Description Condition: Very Good. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # GRP74703863
Book Description First Edition. 1st edition, 2004, with B&W & colour illustrations. Gift inscription on front free end paper; dust jacket spine faded Used - Very Good. VG hardback in VG dust jacket. Seller Inventory # BOOKS308687I
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. Illustrated (illustrator). 1st Edition. First printing. Well bound in clean black cloth covered boards with gilt titling to spine. Corners and spine ends all excellent. Text pages, illustrations and eps are all fine with no markings or inscriptions. D/J is complete with just a little light edge rubbing. Despatched same or next working day in protective packaging. Seller Inventory # 008023
Book Description Cloth. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Illustrated (illustrator). First British Edition. Well researched History of the Spice Trade, written in terms of the appetite that fuelled it. Black cloth cover with Gilt lettering to spine. Some Colour and B&W Illustrations. 409 Pages, 780g, 9 1/2" Tall. Previous owner's name onreverse of free endpaper. Jacket not clipped. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Seller Inventory # 009582
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. Hardcover in As New condition with As New dustwrapper. First edition, pp xxxviii, 409, colour illustrations, index. In the ancient Egyptian temple of Dayr al-Bahri is preserved the earliest surviving representation of a merchant fleet. Date to around 1495 BC, rows of hieroglyphs record that the pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut sent the fleet one thousand nine hundred miles south to the land of Punt, a mysterious kingdom somewhere in the Horn of Africa, whence it returned in triumph with a priceless cargo of cinnamon. Yet cinnamon never grew there; it comes from the islands of Southeast Asia; the scarcely credible conclusion is that by 1500 BC there was a trade in cinnamon from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other. At some unknown place, the long-forgotten merchants of Punt acquired the spice, and then resold it for the use of the embalmers, cosmeticians, priests, gods and god-kings of the Nile. These hints of an ancient trade in spices are only the first, tantalisingly obscure fragments of an epic story. For the sake of spices, fortunes have been made, empires built and destroyed, and new worlds discovered. In the seventeenth century more people died for the sake of cloves than in all the European dynastic wars of the period. Perhaps only the story of mankind?s infatuation with precious metals can rival the story of spice in scope; and only the history of silver and gold rivals that of spice for its improbable and extraordinary combination of discovery and conquest, heroism and savagery, greed and violence. The history of spice encompasses all the old civilizations and the new, from the lands of the Old Testament to the Spice Isands themselves. This is Jack Turner?s first work, but the ambition and brilliance and lucidity of his writing surely mark him out as a new star in the historical firmament. This will be a remarkable book. Seller Inventory # 005488
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Seller Inventory # 011641