The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago--remote tranquil and now largely ignored. At the beginning of the seventeenth century however Run's harvest of nutmeg turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands precipitating a fierce and bloody battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and a small band of ragtag British adventurers led by the intrepid Nathaniel Courthope. The outcome of the fighting was one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland but in return was given another small island Manhattan. A brilliant adventure story of unthinkable hardship and savagery the navigation of uncharted waters and the exploitation of new worlds Nathaniel's Nutmeg is a remarkable chapter in the history of the colonial powers.
