The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the Indonesian archipelago. Just two miles long and half a mile wide, it is remote, tranquil, and largely ignored.

Yet four hundred years ago, Run’s bountiful harvest of a then-priceless spice, nutmeg, turned it into the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a battle between the all-powerful Dutch East India Company and the British Crown. Out of the fighting came one of the most spectacular deals in history: Britain ceded Run to Holland, and in return was given Manhattan. This led not only to the birth of New York but also to the beginning of the British Empire.

The man who made it all possible? Nathaniel Courthope and his small band of adventurers, who were sent to Run in 1616, and for four years held off the massive Dutch navy.

Nathaniel’s Nutmeg centers on the remarkable showdown between Courthope and the Dutch Governor General Jan Coen, and the brutal fate of the mariners racing to Run to reap the limitless profits of the spice trade. Written with the flair of a historical sea novel but based on rigorous research, Giles Milton’s Nathaniel’s Nutmeg is a brilliant, true tale of high adventure in the South Seas.