Nathaniel's Nutmeg

In Nathaniel's Nutmeg, Giles Milton tells the story of the Spice trade from the British perspective. The British are almost always portrayed as noble, while the competing Dutch tend to be nice alone, but cruel and inhumane when they deal with the English. (The other players, such as Spanish and Portuguese have only token roles in this story.

Nathaniel Courthope is the "main character" in this book. However, he would only garner a "supporting actor" credit (if that). Much of the story deals with the eccentric explorer and the joint-stock companies that helped establish the lucrative trade in spices. Nutmeg was seen to have great medicinal properties, and thus in high demand. Since it was only grown in a few isolated islands in modern day Indonesia, the high transport costs and limited price helped to push the price sky high. The East Indies companies thus spent considerable effort to help gain control of the production as well as shorten the trade routes. (The book gives extensive coverage to various voyages of exploration - including many voyages through ice and the arctic, such as Hudson's quest for the Northwest Passage.)

Nathaniel comes in when he makes a bold effort to prevent the Dutch from capturing the small island of Run. He maintains a presence there for a few years until he is finally defeated. However, the British are loathe to give up the claim to the island. Later as a way to seek "revenge", they take Manhattan from the Dutch. At later negotiations, the two sides finally agree to a truce, deciding that Manhattan is a fair trade for Run.

Today, however, Run is not nearly as valuable. The Dutch had tried to lessen its value to the British by removing the Nutmeg trees. However, they always grew back. The British, however, removed some trees with soil and successfully planted them elsewhere, thus reducing the importance of the remote islands.

Indirectly, this book provides a plausible explanation for the 'post-colonial' fate of Dutch and British colonies. The British tended to integrate themselves with the life of the "natives", while the Dutch simply had trading posts that ruled over the people. Thus, many former British colonies still have a degree of "Britishness" (such as the uber-capitalism in Hong Kong, or the Enlgish language in India), while Dutch colonies are fairly devoid of Dutchness (Indonesia).

The spice trade represented one of the first real battles between large "multinational" corporations. This book does a great job of bringing alive this competition in what could be one of the earliest "business school case studies".


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