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Spice
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About the Author

Jack Turner was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1968. He received his B.A. in Classical Studies from Melbourne University and his Ph.D. in International Relations from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and MacArthur Foundation Junior Research Fellow. He lives with his wife, Helena, and children in Geneva. Spice: The History of a Temptation is his first book.

Reviews

“Spice is an erudite and engaging account of how foodstuffs can change the flow of history.” – New York Times Book Review

"Jack Turner handles his subject with discernment and confidence, his style appropriately brisk and animated. . . . Impressive and reassuring is his combination of sympathetic understanding and tough-minded rationalism. Although he never condescends to the past, neither does he ever blur the line that separates fascinating lore from the objective truths of science." – Los Angeles Times


“A nifty grab bag of a book. Entertaining and informative.” –San Jose Mercury News


“A hugely enjoyable book, written with erudition, style and wit.” –New Scientist


“Spice is deliciously rich in odors, savors, and stories. Jack Turner quickens history with almost bardic magic, pouring his personality into his narrative without sacrifice of scholarship.” –Felipe Fernandez-Armesto


"Based on research that is broad and deep, Turner succeeds remarkably well in capturing the evanescent attractions of spice." –Orlando Sentinel


“Stimulating. . . . Spice is stuffed with memorable details. . . .Turner writes with pace and intelligence.” –New Statesman


“Jack Turner possesses the two ingredients most essential for the great historian–scholarly detachment allied to a passionate obsession with his subject. He also writes uncommonly well. A splendid book.” –Philip Ziegler


“Turner’s banquet É is, as he admits, a ramble, but it is a fascinating one — urbane, anecdotal and easily digestible.” –Scotsman


“Sumptuous...Turner quotes well and widely from literature, and has a flair for anecdote.” –The Guardian

“Turner brings serious scholarship to bear on his subject, quoting from all manner of obscure texts in ancient languages. But his gentle, ironic wit makes him a light-hearted companion. . . . The book shimmers with life, with real people springing from every page, some of them millennia old. . . . Turner’s enthusiasm carries it all forward with terrific momentum.” –The Tablet

“A fascinating and scholarly book that can help you improve both your cooking and your sex life. An excellent piece of work.” –Peter Mayle

Spices helped draw Europeans into their age of expansion, but the Western world was far from ignorant of them before that time. Turner's lively and wide-ranging account begins with the voyages of discovery, but demonstrates that, even in ancient times, spices from distant India and Indonesia made their way west and fueled the European imagination. Romans and medieval Europeans alike used Asian pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and mace to liven their palates, treat their maladies, enhance their sex lives and mediate between the human and the divine. While many of these applications were not particularly efficacious, spices retained their allure, with an overlay of exotic associations that remain today. Turner argues that the use of rare and costly spices by medieval and Renaissance elites amounted to conspicuous consumption. He has perhaps a little too much fun listing the ridiculous uses of spices in medieval medicine-since, as he notes in a few sparse asides, some spices do indeed have medicinal effects-and fails to get into the real experience of the people. His account of religious uses, on the other hand, paints a richer picture and gets closer to imagining the mystery that people found in these startlingly intense flavors and fragrances. It is this mystery and the idea that sensations themselves have a history that make the entire book fascinating. Agents, Giles Gordon and Russell Galen. (Aug. 17) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

"Spice is an erudite and engaging account of how foodstuffs can change the flow of history." - New York Times Book Review

"Jack Turner handles his subject with discernment and confidence, his style appropriately brisk and animated. . . . Impressive and reassuring is his combination of sympathetic understanding and tough-minded rationalism. Although he never condescends to the past, neither does he ever blur the line that separates fascinating lore from the objective truths of science." - Los Angeles Times


"A nifty grab bag of a book. Entertaining and informative." -San Jose Mercury News


"A hugely enjoyable book, written with erudition, style and wit." -New Scientist


"Spice is deliciously rich in odors, savors, and stories. Jack Turner quickens history with almost bardic magic, pouring his personality into his narrative without sacrifice of scholarship." -Felipe Fernandez-Armesto


"Based on research that is broad and deep, Turner succeeds remarkably well in capturing the evanescent attractions of spice." -Orlando Sentinel


"Stimulating. . . . Spice is stuffed with memorable details. . . .Turner writes with pace and intelligence." -New Statesman


"Jack Turner possesses the two ingredients most essential for the great historian-scholarly detachment allied to a passionate obsession with his subject. He also writes uncommonly well. A splendid book." -Philip Ziegler


"Turner's banquet E is, as he admits, a ramble, but it is a fascinating one - urbane, anecdotal and easily digestible." -Scotsman


"Sumptuous...Turner quotes well and widely from literature, and has a flair for anecdote." -The Guardian

"Turner brings serious scholarship to bear on his subject, quoting from all manner of obscure texts in ancient languages. But his gentle, ironic wit makes him a light-hearted companion. . . . The book shimmers with life, with real people springing from every page, some of them millennia old. . . . Turner's enthusiasm carries it all forward with terrific momentum." -The Tablet

"A fascinating and scholarly book that can help you improve both your cooking and your sex life. An excellent piece of work." -Peter Mayle

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