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Favorable
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Kirkus Reviews
A wide-ranging, learned treat for epicures and cultural historians from let us say it first--a man for all seasonings. [1 Jun 2004, p.531]
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Favorable
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Library Journal Dale Farris
Readers will be thoroughly entertained by the tasty tidbits that follow the trail of spice in medicine, magic, religion, sex, avarice, fantasy, and gluttony and will likely think again next time they shake pepper on theft evening meals. [15 May 2004, p.100]
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Favorable
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Los Angeles Times Merle Rubin
Aimed at the general reader, his style is appropriately brisk and animated, although at times he borders on glibness, overusing buzzwords. Perhaps the chief problem for the reader is the somewhat circular quality of the narrative.
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Favorable
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Publishers Weekly
[A] lively and wide-ranging account. [24 May 2004, p.51]
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Favorable
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San Francisco Chronicle Gabriella Gershenson
Turner impressively weaves a tremendous amount of information into a cohesive, pointed narrative.
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Favorable
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The Guardian James Buchan
He quotes well and widely from literature, and has a flair for anecdote. His sole fault is a liking for anachronistic cliché such as "performance-enhancing drug"), which patronises the past without flattering the present.
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Favorable
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The Independent Christopher Hirst
A book as readable as it is exotic.
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Favorable
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The New York Times Michiko Kakutani
Mr. Turner not only gives the reader a wonderfully vivid history of the quest for spices and the lucrative spice trade, but he also provides some intriguing insights into why spices once exerted such a hold over the human imagination.
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Favorable
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The New York Times Book Review Tobin Harshaw
An erudite and engaging account of how foodstuffs can change the flow of history.
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Favorable
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Booklist Mark Knoblauch
Turner displays erudition without pretension in compelling prose; the result is a highly readable account of the oft-reported quest for spices. [Jul 2004, p.1809]
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Favorable
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger K. Miller
[His] approach lends itself to an occasional wobbling of focus and contributes to repetition. Still... Turner succeeds remarkably well at capturing the evanescent attractions of -- primarily -- pepper, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.
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Favorable
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Christian Science Monitor Ruth Walker
Turner has a knack for talking about previous centuries in a way that resonates with our own times.
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Favorable
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Daily Telegraph Martin Gayford
An erudite, urbane and original book.
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Mixed
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Daily Telegraph Kate Colquhoun
Despite the author's scholarly intensity and narrative talent, Spice would be better at half the length.
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Mixed
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Washington Post Sidney W. Mintz
In principle there is no reason why this serial presentation... should not serve the reader well. And this is entertaining, for a while. Yet because of it, the book takes on something of the quality of a trip to the zoo, where one moves from the aviary to the monkey cage, with each case standing on its own.
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