The Nutmeg's Curse

Parables for a Planet in Crisis

By: Amitav Ghosh

Narrated by: Sam Dastor

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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

Critic reviews

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

Brilliant

Once again, Ghosh has joined the dots and spelt out what we risk losing if we do not act now. Brilliant. I was crazy about the narration though.

View shifting

I know a book was good when it's message pops up in my mind afterwards, in all sorts of discussions and situations and brings me to question automatical mind pathways to apprehend the world.

Important

Only a petty person would critique this very earnest effort to join the dots and remind us how acutely important the issue of climate change is. Its not the kind of book you should try to find fault with. Engaging, historically rich, at times indulgent, this is a hurriedly written, thorough argument connecting colonialism and its reincarnations as the root cause of our battle with nature - and ourselves.
The narrator would have done well to research the pronounciations. Otherwise it is well narrated.

Pronounciation of Bahasa Indonesia

Some of the pronunciation are not correct, like the words Ternate, Gunung etc for example.

The ‘Overstory’ of this year

How do we change ourselves in the face of overwhelming evidence we are destroying our children’s future?

A must read for decolonization, anti racism, and environmental activists

It was not what I expected when I started but after long, it was a book I could not “put down”. Every page is researched and woven into tales in ways only Amitav can.