Pepper : a history of the world's most influential spice /

Pepper : a history of the world's most influential spice /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Shaffer, Marjorie.
Edition:	First edition.
Imprint:	New York : Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2013.
Description:	xiii, 302 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 22 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	Pepper (Spice) -- History. Pepper (Spice) History.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/9103523

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780312569891 (hardback) 0312569890 (hardback) 9781250021007 (e-book)
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	"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"--

Table of Contents:

Preface
1. Meet the Pipers
2. The King of Spices
3. Drugs and Souls
4. Golden Elephants
5. The British Invade
6. The Dutch Terror
7. U.S. Pepper Fortunes
8. An Infinite Number of Seals
9. Medicinal Pepper
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index