Based on archival material, this book presents the history of the military, diplomatic and economic power struggle for control of the world's most lucrative food stuffs, and domination of the Indian Ocean. Clothed in mystery and lost in uncharted seas, the Spice Islands of the early sixteenth century tantalized European imagination to the point of obsession. As the only place on Earth where grew the 'holy trinity' of spices-cloves, nutmeg, and mace-these minuscule islands quickly became a wellspring of international intrigue and personal fortune,