For all the tea in China : how England stole the world's favorite drink and changed history

For all the tea in China How England stole the world's favorite drink and changed history

Sarah Rose

Book - 2010

Rose's remarkable account follows the journey of Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, who was deployed by the British East India Company to steal China's tea secrets in 1848. This thrilling narrative combines history, geography, and old-fashioned adventure.

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Subjects
Fortune, Robert, > 1813-1880 > Travel > China.
East India Company > History > 19th century.
Tea trade > Great Britain > History > 19th century.
Tea trade > China > History > 19th century.
Tea > Great Britain > History > 19th century.
Tea > China > History > 19th century.
Plant collectors.
Plant collecting > History.
Business intelligence > Great Britain > History > 19th century.
China > Description and travel.
China > History > Qing dynasty, 1644-1912.
Himalaya Mountains > Description and travel.
Published
New York : Viking 2010.
Language
English
Main Author
Sarah Rose (-)
Item Description
Originally published: London : Hutchinson, 2009, with title For all the tea in China : espionage, empire, and the secret formula for the world's favourite drink.
Physical Description
x, 261 p. ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. [251]-254) and index.
ISBN
9780670021529
  • Prologue
  • 1. Min River, China, 1845
  • 2. East India House, City of London, January 12, 1848
  • 3. Chelsea Physic Garden, May 7, 1848
  • 4. Shanghai to Hangzhou, September 1848
  • 5. Zhejiang Province near Hangzhou, October 1848
  • 6. A Green Tea Factory, Yangtze River, October 1848
  • 7. House of Wang, Anhui Province, November 1848
  • 8. Shanghai at the Lunar New Year, January 1849
  • 9. Calcutta Botanic Garden, March 1849
  • 10. Saharanpur, North-West Provinces, June 1849
  • 11. Ningbo to Bohea, the Great Tea Road, May and June 1849
  • 12. Bohea, July 1849
  • 13. Pucheng, September 1849
  • 14. Shanghai, Autumn 1849
  • 15. Shanghai, February 1851
  • 16. Himalayan Mountains, May 1851
  • 17. Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield Lock, 1852
  • 18. Tea for the Victorians
  • 19. FortuneÆs Story
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Through the adventures of Robert Fortune, a nineteenth-century plant hunter, the reader learns a delicious brew of information on the history of tea cultivation and consumption in the Western world. Rose's book is certain to draw the attention of history buffs, foodies, avid travel-literature fans, followers of popular science, and perhaps even business-interest book consumers as she reconstructs what she posits as the greatest theft of trade secrets in the history of mankind. Tea was grown in China. Great Britain wanted tea. But trying to trade with the Celestial Empire was like pulling teeth. So the East India Company sent hunter Fortune, undercover (dressed in mandarin robes), to penetrate the depths of China and surreptitiously gather steal, in other words seeds and young plants and send them to India, where they would flourish in soil that was part of the British Empire. The author's bold conclusion to this remarkably riveting tale is that Fortune's actions would today be described as industrial espionage, but nevertheless he changeed the fate of nations. --Hooper, Brad Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

In 1848, the British East India Company sent Scottish gardener/botanist Robert Fortune to China to steal tea plants, seeds, and the secrets of the horticulture and manufacturing of tea, a drink quickly growing in popularity among the English. While there, Fortune confronted prejudice, bad weather, and crooks as willing to dupe him as he was to swindle them. Along with fascinating tidbits about tea growing and history, we also learn about the coolies (slaves) upon whom the tea trade depended. Journalist Rose (www.sarahrose.com) is a rarity, an author who skillfully narrates her own lush work, capturing every nuance perfectly. She's totally charming as she re-creates good guys, brigands, thought processes, diverse emotions, and international accents. China and history buffs will be entranced. [Audio clip available through www.tantor.com.-Ed.]-Susan G. Baird, formerly with Oak Lawn P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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