Spice: The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World

by Roger Crowley

The story of the sixteenth-century’s epic contest for the spice trade, which propelled European maritime exploration and conquest across Asia and the Pacific   Spices drove the early modern world economy, and for Europeans they represented riches on an unprecedented scale. Cloves and nutmeg could reach Europe only via a complex web of trade routes, and for decades Spanish and Portuguese explorers competed to find their elusive source. But when the Portuguese finally reached the spice islands of the Moluccas in 1511, they set in motion a fierce competition for control.   Roger Crowley shows how this struggle shaped the modern world. From 1511 to 1571, European powers linked up the oceans, established vast maritime empires, and gave birth to global trade, all in the attempt to control the supply of spices.   Taking us on voyages from the dockyards of Seville to the vastness of the Pacific, the volcanic Spice Islands of Indonesia, the Arctic Circle, and the coasts of China, this is a narrative history rich in vivid eyewitness accounts of the adventures, shipwrecks, and sieges that formed the first colonial encounters—and remade the world economy for centuries to follow.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, World History, Economics, European History, 16th Century

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2024

About the author

Roger Crowley was born in 1951 and spent part of his childhood in Malta. He read English at Cambridge University and taught English in Istanbul, where he developed a strong interest in the history of Turkey. He has traveled widely throughout the Mediterranean basin over many years and has a wide-ranging knowledge of its history and culture. He lives in Gloucestershire, England.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think a better title for this book would be TRADE, because this book is less about Spice and more about sea faring and the expansion of trade routes. If you plan on picking this book up because you want to know about the history various spices, you should probably read something else. This book is about Trade and maps.

This was an unexpectedly timely read given current world events. Trade is important. Most countries depend on it to survive. Trade has some good sides but it also leads to atrocities. The global slave trade. The genocides of native peoples. The extinction of various animals including a bird I've never heard of The Auks.

Slavery isn't really touched on until towards the end of the book with the horrifying stat that in thr 17th century their were between 20,000 and 40,000 enslaved Africans in Mexico. Slaves along with the native Andean tribes people were horribly treated and subjected to inhumane working and living conditions.

World trade has from the very beginning depend on the exploitation of developing nations for cheap labor and cheap goods. The most powerful and riches countries in the world are not being "raped" by other countries that those powerful countries depend on for essential items. The powerful countries are the villains. We are the bullies.

I highly recommend this to my fellow History lovers.

[Dax · Rating 3 out of 5]

In one of his earlier books, Crowley covered the rise of Portuguese exploration around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian ocean. In 'Spice', Crowley now turns his attention to the rise of the spice trade and the contest between Portugal and Spain in the Pacific. We actually start with Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe in the early 16th century, but that is well-traveled ground in historical works. The more interesting aspects of this book were the mini-wars between Spain and Portugal in the spice islands, the attempts to establish trading ports in the Philippines, China and Japan, and the routing back across the Pacific that opened that arena to international trade. He really covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time. That will appeal to a lot of readers as it makes for a fast read, but I would love to see Crowley drill down on some of these episodes a little more. He seems to have a wordcount in mind when he begins a new project. A very good book, to be sure, but maybe not quite excellent. High three stars.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a lot of fun with this one, as I almost always do with Crowley’s work. This book bills itself as a story about the spice trade, and that’s certainly present throughout the narrative, but really what it’s about is Spain and Portugal forging the last few links in a global trading network while doing their best to wipe each other out, all while exploiting every natural resource and oppressing every indigenous person they come across. The book walks a pretty fine line between being exciting, informative, and depressing.

Lots of good stuff in here, including a really engrossing summary of Magellan’s expedition and its aftermath, stories about early European contact with China, and a section on the Spanish galleon trade. My favorite bit of the book occurred during a one chapter aside about an attempt by the English to establish their own north east route to the pacific, only to get derailed in Russia. This section of the book includes an account of an honest to god ghost ship, and even though the explanation for that ship is very logical and very mundane, there were still a few genuinely creepy moments where I was like “what the fuck is even happening in this book right now?” Not a feeling I ever expected to experience while reading a history book about boats and shit. Very good stuff all around.

[History Today]

As we slide towards Earth’s sixth extinction event and look covetously towards planets endowed with precious rare metals, Roger Crowley’s new book should be required reading for those commanding future conquests of resource extraction. Written with the verve of a detective novel, Crowley charts a 16th-century version of the ‘moon shot’ to the fabled ‘Spice Islands’ of the Moluccas.

Then the sole known source of cloves, nutmeg, mace and sandalwood, trading profits on these rare but easily portable commodities could reach a thousand per cent. Such profits were the stuff of dreams, spawning a frenzy of map-making, schools of navigation, travel accounts, commercial espionage, state-sponsored exploration and oversight bodies, with Seville’s Casa de la Contratación de las Indias (established in 1503) leading the way. It would not last, but for a moment in the 16th century, buoyed by the silver of the New World, it would catapult Spain to superpower status.

Crowley’s book spans an action-packed 60 years, stretching from the Portuguese conquest of Malacca (Melaka) on 15 August 1511 to the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi’s capture of Manila on 24 June 1571. Both provided secure bases for the Iberians in the Malay world and the Philippines thus ensuring them a temporary global advantage: ‘Whoever is Lord of Melaka has his hand on the throat of Venice’, as the astute Portuguese apothecary Tomé Pires put it. The fact that both victories occurred on major Catholic feast days – the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist’s Day respectively – was not lost on the pious Iberians.

Read the rest of the review at HistoryToday.com.

Peter Carey is Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College, Oxford and former Adjunct Professor in Humanities at the University of Indonesia.

[Geir Ertzgaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tenker det er mange som leser Erika Fatlands "Sjøfareren" nå, og det helt sikkert med god grunn. Jeg skal også lese den, men den handler om Portugal og Fatlands reise fra Lisboa til krydderøyene i Indonesia. Denne boken handler om krydder, men også om alt det andre som skjedde på 1500-tallet: Kampen mellom Spania og Portugal om handelsherredømme, oppdagelsen av sjørutene gjennom Stillehavet til det som i dager Filipinene og Indonesia, den er innom seilaser langs Norskekysten og inn i Hvitesjøen, egentlig om hele det storpolitiske handelsspillet om havene og kampen om markedene.
Jeg tror at du ikke får nok etter Sjøfareren. Da er det denne boka du skal gå til, for den er helt fabelaktig kunnskapsrik, informativ og samtidig like fabelaktig skrevet.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theme is a bit tenuous for some of the chapters, but good

[Reece Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Really interesting, with great inserts from explores and ships logs. So intriguing and was easy to get hooked into a read-a-thon.

[Jaimie forsyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating, if at times pretty uncritical of European expansionism … call a spade a spade pls roger!

[Emilio Minichiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.7 stars) A really amazing read, very fun and fast paced, it really reads like a novel. This is a book about the early Portuguese and Spanish missions to the spice islands in southeast asia, starting with Vasco de Gama and Columbus accidentally discovering the Americas, and then going on to Magellan and his successors. I learned a ton from this book. It totally fascinated me how the desire for spices from the rich, just a simple luxury item, which might be something like luxury cars or expensive handbags to us now, launched insane expeditions and completely changed history. We start off with the Portuguese conquering Malacca in India, though the author doesn’t go very deep into that, and I wish he did, and then going from there to the spice islands, the Moluccas. We learn a lot about the confusing relationship between Spain and Portugal at this time in history. There were significant tensions between the two empires, but their royalty were all related and kind to one another, leading to some really bizarre diplomacy, like the Tordesillas Line. We then follow the story of Magellan, who got sponsored by King Charles of Spain, who was trying to get to the spice islands by a different route than the Portuguese did around Africa, to avoid those military tensions and to hopefully find a shorter route. So he sails all the way to South America, finds a waterway near the very south and then sails through the Pacific ocean, finally arriving at the Moluccas after just about the most nightmarish trip that one could ever go on. Between mutinies, starvation, disease and violent feuds with indigenous peoples, most of Magellans crew died or ended up stranded on random islands in the Pacific. With the few people he has left, he finally arrives at his destination in the Moluccas only to get embroiled in local disputes between warlords. He moronically gets himself and a bunch of his followers killed in an extremely stupid battle with a local army. The story of Magellan is definitely the high point of this book, and a great reminder that people were always really dumb and short sighted. The rest of the book continues with further voyages and the development of Spain and Portugal. Overall an amazing book.

[Himasweeta Sarma · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than talking about the spices themselves, the book explored trade, economies and most importantly, how global connections were formed in the 16th century. I wish there was a chapter instead of a paragraph alone on how different cuisines were affected by this global trade but well. Never thought Japanese food was actually inspired by Portuguese frying techniques! The last chapter on "Destruction" was important. Period.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great narrative history by Roger Crowley. As in his previous books, it feels more like reading a story than history. Pivotal moments during Spanish and Portugese explorations are related in a flowing narrative supported by first hand accounts, giving life to this entire period of history and the people who drove it.

[Amanda Montoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

History is wild. Interesting to learn about my Spanish heritage (sorry, world) and Portuguese influence on Japan and other parts of the world (apologies again). Will bring a new level of appreciation to my next travels.

[Mac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bust.

Skips around a little too quickly and is very Spain-centric when it really should be Portuguese-centric, must have something to do with the sources available as we really follow Spain as the underdog of the story for a long time - not sure why.

Perhaps a good read for those with no previous bearing on the age of discovery (exploration). And while I understand the parallels, I am not a giant fan of drawing comparisons between the historic exploitation covered here to more modern examples as done so in the author’s covid inspired epilogue.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spicy.

[David Billow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title implies a narrow focus, but it felt broad in execution. Crowley is always worthwhile though. Maybe 3.5.

[Álvaro Fuentes Postigo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro interesante y recomendable para conocer la historia de la globalización. Se centra en los episodios que tuvieron lugar en el siglo XVI con los portugueses y españoles en su lucha por disponer de las islas de las especias. Asi mismo, se añade el viaje inglés hacia el norte con el objetivo de encontrar una nueva ruta comercial a oriente y lo que encontraron fue el Reino de Rusia. También, se pone de manifiesto la importancia del comercio en China y su relación con los países ibéricos.

[Paul Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roger Crowley’s Spice sets out to chart the fierce 16th-century race for control over the lucrative spice trade — a global contest that linked empires, explorers, and merchants in an age of bold ambition and brutal conquest. While the subject is inherently fascinating, the book delivers a mixed experience: moments of gripping storytelling balanced by sections that feel rushed and unevenly developed.

The Magellan Chapter: A Standout Epic

The undisputed highlight of Spice is the chapter devoted to Ferdinand Magellan. Crowley slows down here, giving space to the sheer audacity of Magellan’s circumnavigation attempt — the months at sea, the unimaginable hardship rounding Cape Horn, and the iron determination that drove him to find a western route to the Spice Islands.

Crowley vividly describes how Magellan faced and overcame multiple mutinies from his own men, holding the expedition together through a mix of courage, ruthlessness, and unwavering conviction. The tension is palpable as the ships grope through the labyrinth of fjords at the tip of South America, uncertain whether a passage even exists. And when they are finally “spat out” into the vastness of the Pacific, the scale of their suffering becomes almost unimaginable. Many of the crew died from scurvy and starvation, yet Magellan pressed on, eventually reaching the Philippines.

Even by modern standards, it’s an awe-inspiring journey — a feat of endurance and leadership almost beyond belief. Crowley truly succeeds in making readers feel like part of Magellan’s crew, caught between despair and destiny. It’s easily the book’s most immersive and emotionally resonant section.

The Rest: Crowded Waters

Elsewhere, Spice moves at a far brisker pace. Crowley races through decades of exploration — from Portuguese dominance to Spanish and later Dutch incursions — often introducing new figures only to move on within a few pages. Captains die in mutinies, sailors are killed by islanders, expeditions vanish in storms. Death is ever-present, but treated almost casually — as if it were simply part of the geography of exploration.

That approach may reflect how life and risk were viewed at the time, yet it leaves the reader oddly detached from the human cost. The succession of short episodes — one explorer dies, another takes command, another voyage begins — creates a feeling of distance. It’s history told in snapshots rather than stories, and while it gives a sense of the sheer scale of maritime expansion, it also dilutes its emotional impact. The contrast with the fully realized Magellan narrative couldn’t be sharper.

A Missing Ingredient: The Value of Spice

Another weakness lies in the lack of attention to why the spice trade mattered so much. Crowley mentions nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon throughout, but rarely pauses to explore what they were used for, or why they commanded such extraordinary prices in Europe. A richer picture of how a 16th-century noble household prized and used these spices — as status symbols, medicines, or preservatives — would have grounded the story in human experience.

Only near the end does Crowley briefly note that these once-mythical luxuries now sit cheaply in every kitchen. It’s a fleeting reflection that hints at a far greater story — how taste, wealth, and empire intertwined to reshape the world. Without this color, the reader understands that the spice trade was vital, but not fully why.

A Fresh Lens Near the End

The penultimate chapter offers a welcome change in tone and structure. Crowley shifts to a broader, more analytical narrative, tracing how the spice trade evolved into the first wave of globalization. His depiction of the Manila–Acapulco galleon route — linking the silver of South America with Chinese porcelain and Asian spices — is particularly engaging. It’s one of the few points where the book pauses to show the grand interconnectedness that the earlier chapters only hint at, and it’s easily one of the most rewarding sections.

A Weak Finish

The final chapter, however, loses momentum. Crowley attempts to bridge the past and present by touching on topics like oceanic pollution and underwater shipwrecks — issues that, while important, feel disconnected from the book’s core narrative. The conclusion feels rushed and slightly misplaced, as though tacked on to provide modern relevance rather than closure.

Hints of Another Story

Throughout Spice, Crowley drops tantalizing hints about the Dutch VOC and their later domination of the trade routes, even referencing the opium trade with China. These asides feel like unfinished threads — perhaps groundwork for a future book — but here they only tease what could have been a richer ending.

Final Thoughts

Spice is rich in ambition and occasionally brilliant in execution, but uneven in pacing and focus. Crowley’s command of maritime history is unquestionable, yet his narrative sometimes sacrifices depth for breadth. When the storytelling slows down — as in the Magellan and globalization chapters — the book shines. But too often it sails past its own discoveries.

Verdict: Worth reading for the Magellan chapter and its sweeping view of early globalization, but it misses a golden opportunity to explore why spices mattered so much — and the human cost behind the pursuit of them.

[Jackson Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

IRL Dune

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roger Crowley’s Spice: The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World is, at its core, a drama about Spain’s stubborn determination to pry open a door that Portugal had carefully bolted shut. The Iberians divide the globe with papal confidence, Portugal rounds Africa, and Spain, unwilling to be relegated to spectator status, gambles westward across a Pacific that seemed less like an ocean and more like a theological test of endurance.

Crowley tells this story with his usual cinematic precision. The Spanish push to reach the Moluccas from the opposite direction, most famously through Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition under the Spanish crown, is rendered as high-stakes improvisation. Portugal holds the eastern highway. Spain attempts a transoceanic workaround. Empires maneuver, ships splinter, and the globe shrinks by inches of latitude.

Yet for all its narrative strength, the book might have benefited from a slightly wider historical aperture. Spain’s maritime audacity in the sixteenth century did not emerge in a vacuum. It followed directly on the heels of the 1492 conquest of Granada, the final removal of Muslim Moorish rule from the Iberian Peninsula under Ferdinand and Isabella. The consolidation of Spanish power after centuries of Reconquista provided more than religious satisfaction. It delivered political unity, fiscal consolidation, and a hardened military culture accustomed to existential struggle.

That same year, 1492, Columbus sailed. The coincidence is not trivial. A kingdom that had just completed a centuries-long campaign to reclaim its territory from Islamic rule was suddenly positioned, psychologically and materially, to project power outward. The expulsion of the Moors and the unification of Castile and Aragon did not merely close a chapter of Iberian history. They opened the possibility of imperial ambition.

Similarly, the 1453 fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, an event that sent shockwaves through European trade networks, sits quietly in the background of Crowley’s narrative. The Ottoman consolidation of eastern Mediterranean routes and the growing difficulty of accessing Asian goods through traditional channels created the strategic incentive for maritime alternatives. Portugal’s push around Africa and Spain’s westward gamble were not just expressions of curiosity or greed. They were responses to a shifting geopolitical landscape in which established land routes had become more expensive, more contested, and more politically fraught.

Crowley certainly understands this context, but he keeps his lens trained tightly on the sixteenth-century Spanish-Portuguese rivalry itself. The result is a gripping account of tactical maneuvering and imperial brinkmanship. Still, a more explicit linkage to the Reconquista’s aftermath and the Ottoman capture of Constantinople might have strengthened the argument implied in the subtitle. These were not just background events. They were enabling and motivating factors that shaped the strategic imagination of Iberian rulers.

In a sense, Spain’s attempt to work around Portugal was itself part of a larger pattern. Having completed the removal of Muslim rule at home, Spain turned outward into a world where Islamic powers still dominated key trade arteries. The maritime push toward the Orient can be read not only as commercial ambition but also as the continuation of a civilizational contest, now conducted on oceans rather than on the plains of Andalusia.

None of this diminishes the power of Crowley’s narrative. Spice remains a vivid, tightly constructed account of how Spain tried to break into an eastern market guarded by Portugal’s guns and papal paperwork. But by more directly foregrounding the recent consolidation of Spanish authority and the long shadow of Constantinople’s fall, the book might have more clearly illuminated why Spain was so determined, so well positioned, and so psychologically primed to challenge Portugal’s grip on the road to the East.

As it stands, the connections are there, waiting for the attentive reader to draw them. Crowley gives us the contest in exquisite detail. The deeper motivations, forged in Iberia’s recent past and the shock of Ottoman expansion, hover just beneath the surface, shaping the modern world almost as quietly as the spice trade itself.

[Ilham Bangun Asmoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Membaca buku dari Roger Crowley seperti anda mendengarkan cerita dari Kakek sebagai pengantar tidur. Dimana dalam bukunya menceritakan berbagai macam perjalanan para pelaut pemberani dalam rangka mengelilingi dunia dan menguasai jalur rempah. Dari pengalaman membaca buku Roger Crowley ini, 1453, Empire of the Sea, dan Rempah-rempah, Peta yang disajikan selalu menarik pembaca agar selalu melihat, memetakan secara detail lokasi mana saja peristiwa peristiwa penting yang dibahas dalam bukunya.
Kisah pertama kita akan mengetahui kisah dimana Kengerian, Bencana, Pengkhianatan dan Malapetaka Ekspedisi Ferdinand Magelhaens menuju pulau Maluku dalam rangka pencarian rempah dan mengelilingi dunia. Walau akhirnya ekspedisi kedua Magelhaens sebagai pelaut Spanyol gagal. Namun kita dapat Mengetahui pula bahwa Enrique de Malaca. Seorang pelaut dari Maluku sebagai juru bahasa yang mengikuti ekspedisi Magelhaens tersebut. Melalui Pigafetta, cerita ini sampai ke para pembaca buku ini. Dimana perjalanannya, melalui armada dan Wilayah Portugis dengan keadaan sekarat. Tak lupa pula Tomi Pires Pelaut Portugal yang harus mati ketika gagal menaklukkan China sebagai jajahan terbarunya setelah Malaka.
Kisah pelayaran Kedua spanyol yang gagal. Melalui Repatriasi dengan Portugis, Urdanetta menceritakan Ekspedisi dua dan Ketiga (dari Spanyol Baru) yang gagal. Kegagalan melintasi Benua Amerika dan Samudera Pasifik menambah kelam perjalanan selanjutnya dari Spanyol Baru (Argentina), Vilalobos yang akhirnya mati di Maluku.
Kisah dalam bab ketiga, yaitu Sebastian Cabot Mualim handal Spanyol membelot ke Inggris. Cabot menginstruksikan raja inggris untuk melalui rute utara yang berbeda dengan Spanyol dan Portugis (bangsa Iberia). Willoughby sebagai Kapten Chancellor sebagai mualim akhirnya gagal dan hanya mencapai Rusia. Kisah perantara Portugis dengan pedagang dinasti Ming dan kekaisaran Jepang, dimana Dinasti Ming mengembargo Jepang yang sarat perak, disatu sisi Jepang membutuhkan Sutra terbaik dari China. Makau menjadi Solusi bagi kondisi tersebut. Dan juga Kisah Spanyol dalam menaklukkan Manila di Filipina dan didukung oleh penemuan Gunung Perak, Potosi di Bolivia. Dengan penemuan Spanyol akan daerah tersebut. Lalu lintas Pelayaran Pasifik semakin menggeliat, walaupun kegagalan selalu mengintai mereka. Galiung - Galiung di buat dengan tonase beragam dan lebih besar untuk memenuhi hasrat manusia pada zaman itu, Sutra dan Porselen dari Tiongkok, Ribuan Ton perak dari Meksiko dan masih banyak lagi.
Dari Itu semua, penjelajahan kaum Barat melahirkan produk Kartografi, yang berguna bagi pelayaran selanjutnya. Dan kecanggihan teknologi senjata dan kapal menghadirkan produk awal kolonialisme bagi masyarakat Selatan dan Kejayaan bagi masyarakat utara.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me about a month to read, because I read it in fits and starts. But when I was reading it, it was a good read.

I’ve read a lot of books on the 16th and 17th century spice trade, so I was concerned this would be a re-hash. No, this had a unique take on the history. It was more about how trade evolved around spices and eastern (Chinese) goods, than about nutmeg, pepper, cloves themselves.

Primary story foci were:

1. The line of demarcation set down by Pope Alexander the VI in 1493 that divided the world into a Spanish section and a Portuguese section. And the squabbles and difficulties that caused as longitude was almost impossible to measure. Not to mention that Portugal and Spain were the bitterest of frenemies.

2. What’s the best way to get from Europe to the spice growing regions ? East, by sea, going around Africa? West, by sea, going around South America then crossing the pacific? West, by sea to Mexico, crossing by land and then crossing the pacific on the other side ? North, by sea, over the North Pole?

Of course, most of those pathways were as yet undiscovered, so, a good amount of time goes into explaining how that all came about.

3. Misc: the difficulties in dealing with China. The importance of silver, as that is what china wanted, not goods in trade.

It ended at just the right length and on just the right note. I wasn’t “ready to be done 50 pages ago”. He wrapped it up. And the author’s note was one page, as were the acknowledgements.

Ultimately, I did feel like I’d taken a well executed adventure through history. We revisited historical icons such as Magellan, Ferdinand, Isabella, and Charles. And lesser known personalities.

Note: there are a handful of reviews out there about this book that are lower than mine. I can’t disagree or argue with any of those reviews. It just turns out that on this topic, for me, it just hit the spot. Your mileage may vary.

.

[Titia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and seemingly comprehensive sketch of a world economy developing during the 16th century based on spices (first) and silver (later), with Portugal and Spain as main actors.
With some omissions…
The role of the English, especially of course from the beginning of the 17th century, is hardly mentioned at all.
Also, unpleasant activities such as the introduction of opium into China, are said to be of Dutch origin. It’s as if the author never heard of the huge English opium trade that developed up and down the Chinese coast.
The Dutch are also cast as the barbaric, murdering followers of the Portuguese in the Molukken islands. Only the Dutch colonist that is indeed known as one of the most brutal sea lords is quoted (Coen). Not a single word on how the English fitted into the then jigsaw puzzle of geopolitics in that region, nor on how they later behaved in India and Indochina.
Of course at that time the English were busy colonizing North America and Canada, but slave trade to the (northern) americas? Barely mentioned. Also no word on any genocide of Native American peoples.
In that sense, it is interesting to see how, 400 years after the date, a British author will still (albeit in passing) cast the English as civilized, genteel visitors, as opposed to upstart, deplorably barbaric Dutch colonists.
Again, the book is mostly directed towards developments in the 16th century; this partly explains the discreet silence, but it looks clear that some things are deliberately not mentioned.
So, in conclusion: an interesting read, but some additional and complementing historical input and attenuated interpretation might be of use with this book.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The history of the spice islands in eastern Indonesia is an example of how small idiosyncrasies of geography and biology can be pivotal in influencing the direction events take. In this case, the endemic plants which produce nutmeg and mace on Banda, and cloves on Ternate and Tidore, became the focus for the audacious effort by Europeans, the Spanish and Portuguese of the late 15th century, to send ships beyond the horizon and eventually around the world. It is these stories, that fascinate in this book (I didn’t realise that Magellan actually didn’t make all the way!). The complete lack of preparedness for the voyages undertaken – starting with a drastic underestimate of the size of the planet, ignorance of nutrition/scurvy, slow ships etc., - make great stories that deserve to be better known. Unfortunately, only snippets are told of the local populations, probably because little knowledge has been passed down, but these would be good to know. Remarkably, languages were very diverse, reputedly not just by island but also between villages, something like what I understand is still the case in New Guinea today.
I could have read more. The final section documenting the aftermath feels like a bigger story to tell, from China and the rest of the region to Europe and the rise of the Dutch. ( I liked the link to Spanish silver and the impact that had on Latin America, or at least exacerbating what had already begun with the conquistadores. ) But so be it. It’s nice to see this story being told afresh, even if there is so much more to be told!

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spice : The 16th-Century Contest that Shaped the Modern World (2024) by Roger Crowley primarily describes the great voyages that navigated and then circumnavigated the world. Crowley writes about how those journeys reshaped the world and ushered in the first age of global trade.

The book describes the incredible journey of Magellan in great detail. It’s interesting to see how Magellan rounded the world. The treaty of Tordesillas divided the world into parts for the Portugese and parts for Spain. Magellan went from Spain to the Americas and then across the Pacific in part to try and show that some of the spice isles lay in the Spanish section of the world.

While the book is about the spice trade it also describes Potosi, a great silver mine that the Spanish mined. The mining was carried out by whoever the Spanish could get to do it. The silver that came from the Americas had a profound effect on the world. China used silver for currency and silver was worth twice as much in China as it was in Europe. China was a great manufacturer of silk and porcelain that could be purchased with silver and then traded to Europe. Spices could also be bought with silver and brought to Europe. For the first time there was substantial global trade.

Spice describes how this global trading came about via these incredible voyages of discovery. It’s a well written book that most people will learn something from.

[Toni Puig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entretenido libro sobre la contienda que enfrentó a España y Portugal en el el siglo XVI por el dominio del comercio de las especias, de las Molucas, reflejo de la confrontación entre los dos imperios por el comercio marítimo. El tratado de Tordesillas que separaba el globo terráqueo en dos áreas de influencia definió el devenir del siglo XVI, con una disputa nunca solventada acerca de a quién pertenecían las islas de las especias.
La ruta descubierta por Magallanes que representaba un nuevo camino hasta las islas del Índico dominado por Portugal sería el inicio de una globalización que conectaría por fin la lejana China con Europa. La plata descubierta por España en America, serviría de catalizador para la apertura de China al comercio internacional y abriría por primera vez una ruta a través de los océanos.
El libro es una buena manera de conocer cómo las especias sirvieron para desarrollar la navegación a través de océanos hasta entonces inescrutables y definieron un punto sin retorno para la globalización.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of history that I always knew was "there," but never had time to explore in a meaningful way. This was an excellent intro, good enough that I may be happy with the quantity of what I learned not to push further (is that some kind of horribly backhanded compliment?).

Finally, though, I have a much fuller picture of Magellan's expedition; of Spain and Portugal's squabbles over the Pacific side of the Treaty of Tordesillas; of how New Spain entered the whole process; and of the fascinating role of the young Basque, Urdaneta, who decades after surviving the Loaisa expedition, was persuaded to leave his monastery and join/lead the expedition that finally succeeded in crossing the Pacific and then returning to the New World.

Admittedly, the book is full enough as is. I was lightly disappointed, though, that it pointed to the coming of the Dutch and English into the region, but came to a close once the heyday of the Luso-Spanish rivalry had ebbed. This is not a real criticism, though. Every historian has to pick an endpoint, and none are ever fully satisfying.

[Pedrololo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especias, la contienda del siglo XVI que dio forma al mundo moderno, me pareció una lectura muy chévere.

La historia es fascinante porque aterriza, con ejemplos muy concretos, cómo llegamos a muchas dinámicas del mundo actual, ambición, poder, rutas comerciales, y la manera en que se organizaban los imperios. Leyéndolo desde Latinoamérica, uno lo siente cercano, porque conecta directo con el mundo de los conquistados y con el precio humano de esas decisiones.

La parte de aventura es brutal. Todo el tramo de exploración por el sur del continente, el paso por el Estrecho de Magallanes, las expediciones fallidas, las muertes, el Río de la Plata, esa sensación de estar empujando el mapa a la fuerza, es de las secciones más bacanas del libro. Y el cierre con Juan Sebastián Elcano, con esa idea de haberle dado la vuelta al mundo, deja una impresión fuerte.

Me quedó una sensación muy clara, los humanos somos increíbles, el potencial humano es enorme, y al mismo tiempo la historia muchas veces termina marcada por los deseos de unos pocos. Lectura muy recomendada, por lo bien contada y por lo mucho que deja pensando.

[Pat Bedinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually not a book about spices - I am not sure why that title was chosen. "Going Global", the name of a chapter in the book, would have been a better book title, since the book is actually about the spreading of European powers, specifically Portugal and Spain, throughout the wider world during the 1500's. It was an interesting time, and I am glad that I read the book. Spices, especially cloves and nutmeg, were the original impetus for finding ways to reach islands in Southeast Asia, but the overarching goal during this time was to open Asia to trading. The best parts of the book for me were the descriptions of individual voyages, mostly across the Pacific Ocean, which were incredibly challenging. I came to know the history and geography of European cultures in South Asia, and I got a better understanding of the central importance of silver as an international currency once worldwide trade began.

[Kes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plus points: readable, good overview of history. First 14 chapters cover the dangers of circumnavigation and exploring the Pacific; the immense toil on the humans involved (including the death rate) is touched upon. We see how the factors / difficulties involved could have caused mutiny - perhaps it is testament to the human spirit and ability to cooperate that sailing off to the unknown (and for an individual not in a leadership position) could actually result in success. So much risk involved in life.

I was more interested in the last two chapters, about trade. Entertained by the mention of the ships growing larger (same logic for the ships nowadays), currency arbitrage between silver and gold (in the 1500s! Wow), the prevalence of silver (as a common currency, possibly) facilitating trade.

4.5 stars

[Margo Allore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a historical novel of the great "battle" for the spices from the Spice Islands in the 16th Century. The book outlines the history of the times and the battles between the Spanish and Portuguese for supremacy in the Far East. As a result of this drive, this led from Magellan's epic voyage around the world (he got killed in Cebu but his one ship and few sailors made it back), to great advances in navigation and the desire for trade. There were great costs to these voyages---in the beginning, five ships and 500 hundred men would set out and only one ship and 50 men would survive.

This drive in the 16th century essentially revolutionized world wide trading, but to the detriment of many peoples, e.g. native Americans in the silver mines in Bolivia (silver became a big traded item), to slavery from Africa.

A great historical read.