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Economic History

Spice: The History of a Temptation

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Spice: The History of a Temptation

In this brilliant, engrossing work, Jack Turner explores an eraâ€”from ancient times through the Renaissanceâ€”when what we now consider common condiments were valued in gold and blood.

Spices 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 globeâ€”and even to savagery.

Following spices across continents and through literature and mythology, Spice is a beguiling narrative about the surprisingly vast influence spices have had on human desire.

Includes eight pages of color photographs.

One of the Best Books of the Year: Discover Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco ChronicleÂ
Country USA
Brand Vintage
Manufacturer Vintage
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 3089515
Color Orange
ReleaseDate 2005-08-09
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9780375707056

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