Synopses & Reviews
Filled with anecdotes and fascinating information, "a spicy read indeed." (Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed the World)
The perfect companion to Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History, Pepper illuminates the rich history of pepper for a popular audience. Vivid and entertaining, it describes the part pepper played in bringing the Europeans, and later the Americans, to Asia and details the fascinating encounters they had there. As Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds, said, "After reading Marjorie Shaffer's Pepper, you'll reconsider the significance of that grinder or shaker on your dining room table. The pursuit of this wizened berry with the bite changed history in ways you've never dreamed, involving extraordinary voyages, international trade, exotic locales, exploitation, brutality, disease, extinctions, and rebellions, and featuring a set of remarkable characters."
From the abundance of wildlife on the islands of the Indian Ocean, which the Europeans used as stepping stones to India and the East Indies, to colorful accounts of the sultan of Banda Aceh entertaining his European visitors with great banquets and elephant fights, this fascinating book reveals the often surprising story behind one of mankind's most common spices.
Review
“This is more than the story of a spice…Get ready for a sweeping ride through history."
—David Oshinsky, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Polio: An American Story "After reading Marjorie Shaffer's Pepper, you'll reconsider the significance of that grinder or shaker on your dining room table."
—Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World "Pepper was once as critical a commodity as oil. Marjorie Shaffer weaves a delightful history of the Indian Ocean and the South Seas."
—Robert D. Kaplan, author of Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power
Synopsis
“A well-documented companion to Mark Kurlanskys Salt.”
—Publishers Weekly
Mark Kurlanskys smash hit Salt exposed the fascinating history of this everyday staple to countless readers around the world. Now, in this perfect companion to Kurlanskys book, Marjorie Shaffer illuminates the rich history of pepper for a popular audience.
Vivid and entertaining, this sweeping tale of adventure and intrigue describes the essential role that pepper played in bringing both Americans and Europeans to Asia. From the abundance of wildlife on the islands of the Indian Ocean to colorful accounts of sultans entertaining their European visitors, this fascinating book reveals the often surprising story behind one of mankind's most common spices.
In this definitively researched and compelling story, Pepper: A History of the World's Most Influential Spice, Shaffer combines history, customs, and food lore to deliver a mesmerizing tale that every foodie will have to own.
About the Author
MARJORIE SHAFFER has written for The New York Times, The Financial Times, and Popular Science magazine. She was a business reporter for Reuters and a former Knight science journalism fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A graduate of Brown University, she received a Master of Science degree in biology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is currently a science writer and editor at New York University School of Medicine. She lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword xi
One: Meet the Pipers 1
Two: The King of Spices 17
Three: Drugs and Souls 35
Four: Golden Elephants 69
Five: The British Invade 101
Six: The Dutch Terror 139
Seven: U.S. Pepper Fortunes 169
Eight: An Infinite Number of Seals 199
Nine: Medicinal Pepper 214 Epilogue 225
Notes 229
Selected Bibliography 277