The Spice Race

For centuries, nutmeg grew in only one place on Earth: the tiny Banda Islands of Maluku, where it was worth more than gold. This is the story of the race it ignited — Portuguese fleets, Spanish claims, Dutch monopolies enforced at cannon-point, and the islanders who paid the price — including the extraordinary moment when a speck of nutmeg island was traded for Manhattan. A gripping chapter of world history told from the islands at its centre.