The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade

Front Cover
Kodansha International, 1999 - Business & Economics - 337 pages
Clothed in mystery and lost in uncharted seas, the Spice Islands of the early sixteenth century tantalized European imagination to the point of obsession. As the only place on Earth where grew the "holy trinity" of spices-cloves, nutmeg, and mace-these minuscule islands quickly became a wellspring of international intrigue and personal fortune, occasioning the rise and fall of nations across the globe. It is the history of these islands, their mystique, and the men who tried to tame them, that is the fascinating bounty of THE SCENTS OF EDEN.

About the author (1999)

CHARLES CORN is a native Georgian, Graduated from Washington and Lee University, and took a graduate degree in English from George Washington University. A former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, he has worked as an editor at several New York and Boston publishing houses, including Dutton, where he served as editor in chief. The author of DISTANT ISLANDS, which Anne Lamott hailed as "beautiful, innocent, fascinating, and wonderfully written," and which Martin Cruz Smith called "a book to inspire your dreaming," Corn now devotes himself full time to writing. His work has appeared in the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, and ISLANDS magazine, to name a few. He lives in San Francisco and is a frequent and recognized visitor to the Spice Islands.

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