Publisher's Synopsis
On Christmas Day 1616, an English adventurer, Nathaniel Courthope, stepped ashore on a remote island in the East Indies on a secret and dangerous mission - to persuade the head-hunting islanders of Run to grant a monopoly to England over their nutmeg, a fabulously valuable spice in Europe. The welcome he received infuriated the Dutch, who were determined to seize control of the world's nutmeg supply. For five years Courthope and his half-starved band of thirty men were besieged by a force one hundred times greater - and his heroism set in motion the events that led to the founding of the greatest city on earth.
