Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires

Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by virtuous_signal on Monday December 02, 2019 @02:03PM (#21685628)

I never could get into history in school, but I love the idea of looking at history through the lens of one particular item and find it more interesting. I know of (https://www.amazon.com/Debt-Updated-Expanded-First-Years/dp/...). Any others that people here would recommend?

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by wwsculley on Monday December 02, 2019 @04:39PM (#21687271)

You would love this book: At Home by Bill Bryson (https://www.amazon.com/At-Home-Short-History-Private/dp/0767...)

It explores history through the lens of everyday objects in the home (even fixtures like windows, and spaces like your foyer)

A little slow to start, but then it never stops entertaining

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by telesilla on Monday December 02, 2019 @05:18PM (#21687667)

Add to the list the list everything else by Bill Bryson and you'll not put your kindle down for months.

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by hnick on Monday December 02, 2019 @10:14PM (#21689596)

Your comment and the Amazon preview just made a sale here. Thanks for pointing it out.

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by carrozo on Monday December 02, 2019 @03:34PM (#21686572)

My favourite of this genre -

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0099268701/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_...

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by Shebanator on Monday December 02, 2019 @04:57PM (#21687473)

This is one of my favorites as well!

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by minimuffins on Monday December 02, 2019 @02:35PM (#21685960)

https://amazon.com/dp/0140092331

Sidney Mintz, Sweetness and Power

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by pseudolus on Monday December 02, 2019 @04:54PM (#21687436)

"A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World" by William Bernstein provides a sweeping overview of world trade - including spices [0].

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Splendid-Exchange-Trade-Shaped-World/...

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by rstupek on Monday December 02, 2019 @04:42PM (#21687305)

This was an interesting read

https://www.amazon.com/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/...

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by jayalpha on Monday December 02, 2019 @09:19PM (#21689350)

This is in my opinion the best book about modern history. You can easily catch up with stuff you missed:

https://www.amazon.de/Rise-Fall-Great-Powers/dp/0679720197

This book was written in 1989 and was already skeptical about the stability of the soviet union and also thought what might happen to Ukraine if the the USSR disintegrates (attracted to EU/EC).

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by munificent on Monday December 02, 2019 @03:05PM (#21686280)

You would love "A History of the World in Six Glasses".

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by tim333 on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @12:18AM (#21699806)

While not exactly one item, Sapiens looks at history from the perspective of human shared fictions and is a good read https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00ICN066A

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by groktor on Monday December 02, 2019 @03:10PM (#21686330)

you should read some of Giles Milton's books: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29386.Nathaniel_s_Nutmeg and https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/411475.White_Gold are good ones to start with

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Re:Spices Have Made, and Unmade, Empires by plemer on Monday December 02, 2019 @02:19PM (#21685797)

Mark Kurlansky has a few, Salt being the most well known.

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