Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices

Dalby does a great job of discussing spices, both common and obscure. He introduced several spices of antiquity that I'd never heard of before his book. His writing is clear, though one can detect the English writing style. His sourcing is first rate, and his interpretations are backed up with evidence, not just opinion. It is a short book, but definitely not a quick read - this book is information dense. I read it as a break from my daily technical reading and my regular science fiction/fantasy or military history fare - "Dangerous Tastes" was very compelling. Who knew that spices had contributed so much to warfare? And some of the more obscure spices - off to an Indian market to see if I can find them. Intriguing. Ralph Ralph S. Hoefelmeyer

This book was a pleasure and a joy to read. I couldn't put it down. I even find myself rereading it, because the information is so much fun. Besides describing the history of spicees, Dalby quotes from many ancient sources, showing what people believed in the old days about spices: how they came to be, where they grew, how they were harvested. Some tales are truly astonishing, but that's no surprise, since for many centuries, spice merchants kept the true sources a closely held secret. While not comprehensive, the book covers all the major spices and many more unusual ones. I recommend this book to all my friends who are interested in the history of spices and the spice trade.

I learned a lot from this book, and I showed it to a teacher in culinary arts, and she was very impressed. Andrew does wonderful research, as one might expect from a librarian, but he writes well as well.