It's a spice, once rare and expensive, over which several minor wars were fought between competing countries (Venice, Genoa, the Netherlands, Portugal and England). One penn'orth of nutmeg in the East Indies went for 50 shillings in London - that's a 60,000 per cent mark-up, I think - so imagine the incentive for greed, treachery, freebooting and murder. This is the story of pre-enlightenment mischief sanctioned by absolute rulers for the enrichment of a few.

The East India Company used to be a turn-off at school but if they'd told us just how gloves-off this capitalism could be the kids' attention would have been guaranteed.As you'll have gathered, this is about the spice trade, about which we have some hazy notion ("ah yes, the spice trade") but which repays a closer look. You don't hole up on an island against a superior fleet, with no natural water sources (he and his men had to drink their supplies with clenched teeth to keep the fauna out) and nothing to eat but sago without a good deal of the right stuff. Milton's "Checkmate in Berlin" explores post-war Berlin from 1945 to 1949, focusing on the city's division between the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. But then "How One Man's Dithering Changed the Course of History" is not such an uplifting message, is it? Giles Milton's book Nathaniel's Nutmeg: Or The True and Incredible Adventure of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History, gives an account of the struggle for possession of the Banda Islands.

It has been praised for its balanced approach to history and has been published in both Turkish and Greek. It's also toxic, so I don't recomend trying it without consulting a professional herbalist, but I could see how nutmeg in honey might be helpful to a person without access to a 21st century bathroom medicine cabinet. The prize for which so many died is now worthless, while the consolation prize, a piece of land nobody cared for, is now the richest place on earth – built not by violence at the service of looters but by the power of unbridled innovation and uncoerced (read free) trade. The Nathaniel of the title is Nathaniel Courthope, whose story occupies about 8 per cent of this book, 30-odd pages before its end. Wolfram: The Boy Who Went to War" tells the story of Wolfram Aichele, a young artist who grew up during the Third Reich.At that time Nutmeg was thought to cure the plague; and was the most valuable commodity in the world. In short, Manhattan was traded for the island of Run, a speck of land so obscure it now only appears on specialised maps. Giles Milton's books focus on lesser-known stories from history, chronicling the lives of extraordinary people and their exploits in fascinating detail.

D-Day: The Soldiers' Story" focuses on the experiences of survivors during Operation Overlord, giving voice to unheard accounts. Read about William Hawkins's dealings with the psychotic and unpredictable Moghul Emperor Jehangir (endless piss-ups, gladiatorial competitions between people and lions); Captain William Keeling making his crew put on Hamlet (in Africa, in 1607, possibly the first amateur production); and the Massacre of Amboyna, where the Dutch tortured and then murdered the English inhabitants on trumped-up charges. Born in Buckinghamshire, Milton was educated at Latymer Upper School [2] and the University of Bristol. The British defeat at the hands of the Dutch was resolved by Run going to the Dutch and Manhattan (which had been colonized by the Dutch West India Company) going to the British; setting in motion a chain of events that would lead to the establishment of the greatest city the world has ever known. What I see in this story is a warning of what can happen with unsupervised authority – when power requires no consent and legitimacy is not derived from natural laws; laws that were rediscovered during the enlightenment and have been steadfastly and progressively protected using institutions built by and for us as individuals at the service of our reason.On 25 December 1616, he landed his ships, Swan and Defence, on the island known as Run, the smallest (about 2 by 2. The book follows his life, including his time in the Reich Labour Service, his experiences in the war, and his time as a prisoner of war. After losing his two ships to mutiny and sinking by the Dutch, he fortified the island by erecting forts to overlook approaches from the east. With 39 men and the natives, with scarce food and water (springs of which the island is devoid of) supply, he proceeded to hold off a siege of the Dutch - who outnumbered them considerably - for over 1,540 days. Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare" contains the story of a secret irregular warfare organization and its missions during World War II.

You will probably hear that because the protagonists of the conflict (at least one chapter of it) were the Dutch East India Company against the English East India Company, it is an example of how unregulated business is capable of great evil. His works include "White Gold," which explores North African slave markets, the enslavement of white people in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the story of a young English cabin boy named Thomas Pellow; "Samurai William," the historical portrayal of the life and adventures of Englishman William Adams who was shipwrecked in Japan in 1600; "Big Chief Elizabeth," about English and Dutch colonial adventurers competing for control of the world supply of nutmeg in the 17th century; "The Riddle and the Knight," a historical investigation into the voyages of medieval knight Sir John Mandeville through Persia, Arabia, Ethiopia, India, Sumatra, and China; and "Nathaniel's Nutmeg," an account of Nathaniel Courthope's role in the 17th-century battle between the English and Dutch over nutmeg, which was highly sought after for its purported medicinal properties.The narrative provides a day-by-day account of the events that took place when the Turkish army entered Smyrna, looking closely at the individuals involved and the humanitarian efforts made by American charity workers. It is astounding to learn how popular these two spices [nutmeg and mace] were in the 15th-17th centuries, especially when compared to how little they are appreciated today. If the course of history was changed, it was by Sir Thomas Dale (the same man who had brought Pocahontas back from America in 1616), who could have relieved the siege and driven the Dutch out of the spice islands for good, but who hesitated at the last minute and let the enemy regroup. Over all the Spice Islands, Run was the most coveted – covered as it was from one end to the other with Nutmeg trees; trees that would grow nowhere else. Hildegard, the sibyl of the Rhine, wrote down her medical discoveries in 1147, including the pharmaceutical properties of nutmeg.