Nathaniel's nutmeg

The tiny island of Run is an insignificant speck in the Indonesian archipelago--remote, tranquil, and, these days, largely ignored. Yet 370 years ago, Run's harvest of nutmeg (yielding a 3,200% profit by the time it arrived in England) made it the most lucrative of the Spice Islands, precipitating a battle between the Dutch East India Company and the British Crown. The outcome was that Britain ced...