{"product_id":"spice-the-history-of-a-temptation-paperback","title":"Spice: The History of a Temptation - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJack Turner\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this brilliant, engrossing work, Jack Turner explores an era--from ancient times through the Renaissance--when what we now consider common condiments were valued in gold and blood. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSpices made sour medieval wines palatable, camouflaged the smell of corpses, and served as wedding night aphrodisiacs. Indispensible for cooking, medicine, worship, and the arts of love, they were thought to have magical properties and were so valuable that they were often kept under lock and key. For some, spices represented Paradise, for others, the road to perdition, but they were potent symbols of wealth and power, and the wish to possess them drove explorers to circumnavigate the globe--and even to savagery. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFollowing spices across continents and through literature and mythology, \u003ci\u003eSpice\u003c\/i\u003e is a beguiling narrative about the surprisingly vast influence spices have had on human desire. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIncludes eight pages of color photographs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne of the Best Books of the Year: \u003ci\u003eDiscover\u003c\/i\u003e Magazine, \u003ci\u003eThe Christian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA brilliant, original history of the spice trade--and the appetites that fueled it. \u003cbr\u003e It was in search of the fabled Spice Islands and their cloves that Magellan charted the first circumnavigation of the globe. Vasco da Gama sailed the dangerous waters around Africa to India on a quest for Christians--and spices. Columbus sought gold and pepper but found the New World. By the time these fifteenth- and sixteenth-century explorers set sail, the aromas of these savory, seductive seeds and powders had tempted the palates and imaginations of Europe for centuries. \u003cbr\u003e \"Spice: The History of a Temptation is a history of the spice trade told not in the conventional narrative of politics and economics, nor of conquest and colonization, but through the intimate human impulses that inspired and drove it. Here is an exploration of the centuries-old desire for spice in food, in medicine, in magic, in religion, and in sex--and of the allure of forbidden fruit lingering in the scents of cinnamon, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, mace, and clove.\u003cbr\u003e We follow spices back through time, through history, myth, archaeology, and literature. We see spices in all their diversity, lauded as love potions and aphrodisiacs, as panaceas and defenses against the plague. We journey from religious rituals in which spices were employed to dispel demons and summon gods to prodigies of gluttony both fantastical and real. We see spices as a luxury for a medieval king's ostentation, as a mummy's deodorant, as the last word in haute cuisine. \u003cbr\u003e Through examining the temptations of spice we follow in the trails of the spice seekers leading from the deserts of ancient Syria to thrill-seekers on the Internet. We discover howspice became one of the first and most enduring links between Asia and Europe. We see in the pepper we use so casually the relic of a tradition linking us to the appetites of Rome, Elizabethan England, and the pharaohs. And we capture the pleasure of spice not only at the table but in every part of life. \u003cbr\u003e \"Spice is a delight to be savored. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"From the Hardcover edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJack Turner was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1968. He received his B.A. in Classical Studies from Melbourne University and his Ph.D. in International Relations from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and MacArthur Foundation Junior Research Fellow. He lives with his wife, Helena, and children in Geneva. \u003ci\u003eSpice: The History of a Temptation\u003c\/i\u003e is his first book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 384\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8.22 x 6.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 09, 2005\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51755632394528,"sku":"9780375707056","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/8c490c81b4486072179bd0adacaaa06c.webp?v=1780064191","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/spice-the-history-of-a-temptation-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}