Cinnamon: A History of Taste and Empire

The sweeping cultural history of a spice so coveted it launched empires across oceans, reshaped global trade, and bound generations of Sri Lankan peelers to colonial rule. For millennia, cinnamon has been treasured for its healing powers and warm unmistakable aroma. But behind its familiar scent lies a tumultuous past steeped in conquest and rebellion. In Cinnamon, acclaimed historian Nira Wickramasinghe traces the remarkable story of this 'queen of spices', from ancient Egyptian embalming tables and medieval Mughal kitchens to disastrous expeditions to mythical cinnamon lands in the Americas and the fierce imperial rivalries of the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. She reveals how global demand for 'true' cinnamon transformed Sri Lanka, where an entire caste of peelers, neither enslaved nor free, were compelled to harvest the bark under systems of semi-servitude, at times rising up in rebellion. Drawing from meticulously researched global history and mythology, Wickramasinghe brings to life the smugglers, merchants, cooks, botanists, conquerors, and peelers who built the cinnamon trade. A vivid journey across centuries and continents, Cinnamon is the definitive portrait of a spice through which the turmoil and richness of our world come alive. 'A meticulously researched and fascinating journey, tracing the path of one of the world's most fought-over commodities through colonial, global, and labour history, with remarkable insight into the strange 'privileged servitude' of Sri Lanka's cinnamon peelers.' -Alan Lester, Professor of Historical Geography, University of Sussex, and editor of The Truth About Empire Praise for Metallic Modern: 'This is a fascinating book, rich in ideas about what we do with technology's reception and reconstitution in the colonial world.' -South Asia: journal of South Asian studies 'This is a most engaging book from a well-known author ... a timely contribution concerning an important subject that is attracting renewed and sustained interest from historians of late.' -Crispin Bates, University of Edinburgh