By Amitav Gosh
The book is a parable for a planet in crisis, a most topical subject.
Amitav Gosh connects climate change and colonialism.
He delves deep into the history of the Banda Islands at the time, 1621, when the colonial forces from The Netherlands arrived to seize land, to trade in spices, and in particular nutmeg.
The powerful Dutch East Indies Company ( VOC) wanted the monopoly of nutmeg trade,
It led to expelling and even eradicating indigenous people and replacing them by slaves.
Amitav Gosh speaks about the concept of TERRAFORMING : acquiring new land after conquest to meet the needs of the colonial power . Nature was there to be used , moulded.
The whole concept of TERRAFORMING is fundamentally conflictual : it meant legitimizing conquest, controling nature while upsetting the natural balance.
The earth was viewed as an inert entity, the repository of resources to be exploited and profited from, leading to inequality and destruction.
We can now see the result with climate change, global warming, natural catastrophies…
The earth is taking revenge !
In terms of content and depth, this book is breathtaking !
Amitav Gosh blends history, literature, politics and ecology. He looks at the geopolicies of climate change, migration and climate refugees, exploitation of human life and naturalenvironment, fossil fuels and petro states…
And the writer to conclude :
« At the heart of the climate crisis, lie geopolitical problems and inequities of power, inherited from the era of colonialism. »
Every one in the group found the book incredibly informative and thought-provoking although not an easy read, but well worth the effort !
Anne Van Calster, November 2025
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