For centuries, spices were worth more than their weight in gold, and the kingdoms that controlled them held extraordinary power. The Spice Emperors takes readers into the world of Southeast Asia, where ports, islands, and royal courts became the center of a vast commercial network that stretched across the Indian Ocean and beyond.

 

Behind the familiar story of European exploration was a much older world of ambitious rulers, wealthy merchants, skilled sailors, and fiercely protected trade routes. Kingdoms built their fortunes around cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and other precious commodities, while competing for control of the markets that connected Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

 

This book reveals how the spice trade shaped politics, wealth, warfare, and diplomacy across the region for centuries. It is a story of maritime power and commercial ambition, but also of the people and societies that understood the value of the world's most coveted commodities long before European powers arrived to claim them.

Barbara Cartland was the most prolific and popular romantic author of the Twentieth Century enchanting millions of readers with her unequalled tales of pure romance, dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, and of course, her trademark happy endings.



Now, as a tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and to Barbara’s enduring appeal to romantics everywhere, her publishers have launched her past collection - The Eternal Collection.



The collection includes - Elizabethan Lover, The Little Pretender, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and A Duel of Hearts which were all in circulation at the time Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1952. The books are available at the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk – or from Amazon.com.



Ian McCorquodale, Barbara Cartland’s son, said, “My mother would have been so delighted that modern technology can now make her glorious and timeless romances so readily available to new generations of readers all over the world.” weniger anzeigen expand_less