The Nutmeg's Curse cover art

The Nutmeg's Curse

Parables for a Planet in Crisis

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The Nutmeg's Curse

By: Amitav Ghosh
Narrated by: Sam Dastor
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About this listen

From the best-selling author of the Ibis trilogy and The Great Derangement, The Nutmeg's Curse is an enthralling, panoramic history of the influence of colonialism on the world today, told through the surprising story of the nutmeg.

The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation - of both human life and the natural environment - and the origin of our contemporary climate crisis.

Tracing the threats to our future to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean, The Nutmeg's Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. The story of the nutmeg becomes a parable revealing the ways human history has always been entangled with earthly materials - spices, tea, sugarcane, opium and fossil fuels. Our crisis, Ghosh shows, is ultimately the result of a mechanistic view of the Earth, where nature exists only as a resource for humans to use for our own ends, rather than a force of its own, full of agency and meaning.

Writing against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, Ghosh frames these historical stories in a way that connects our shared colonial histories with the deep inequality we see around us today. By interweaving discussions on everything from the global history of the oil trade to the migrant crisis and the animist spirituality of Indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg's Curse offers a sharp critique of contemporary society and speaks to the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.

©2021 Amitav Ghosh (P)2021 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Environment Colonial Period

Critic Reviews

"Do not miss this book." (Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything)

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fascinating history and information

A heafty one but absolutely fascinating with the weaving of the story of the nutmeg through the historical and current issues we are facing.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.