Review
'A book that can only be described as my cup of tea', Financial Times .'Evocatively illustrated throughout, this book celebrates the contibution of tea, past and present, to civilised existence. Fascinating reading', Good Book Guide .'Full of interesting facts and figures as well as being a great story...so stick the kettle on, make yourself a cuppa and settle down for a good read', The Scotsman .'A most entertaining read', Best of British .'A rich history, rolling through the centuries...including in its path the Opium Wars, the Boxer Rebellion and other world events.', History Today
The Scotsman
'Full of interesting facts and figures as well as being a great story'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Financial Times
"A book that can only be described as my cup of tea"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Best of British
"A most entertaining read"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
The definitive history of the world's favourite drink
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Good Book Guide
"Evocatively illustrated throughout, this book celebrates the contribution of tea, past and present, to civilized existence. Fascinating reading"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Apart from water, tea is more widely consumed than any other food or drink. Tens of billions of cups are drunk every day. Yet two thousand years ago it was only chewed or drunk by a handful of monks in China and some tribal peoples in south east Asia. How and why has tea conquered the world? Tea was the first global product. It altered life-styles, religions, etiquette and aesthetics. It raised nations and shattered empires. Economies were changed out of all recognition. Diseases were thwarted by the magical drink and cities founded on it. The industrial revolution was fuelled by tea, sealing the fate of the modern world. Green Gold is a remarkable detective story of how an East Himalayan camellia bush became the world's favourite drink. Discover how the tea plant came to be transplanted onto every continent and relive the stories of the men and women whose lives were transformed out of all recognition through contact with the deceptively innocuous green leaf.
From the Publisher
The remarkable history of one of the most important plants known to mankind
About the Author
Professor Alan MacFarlane is Head of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He is the world's foremost expert on tea and its social impact and has been the principle social expert on the acclaimed Channel Four series The Day the World Took Off. Iris MacFarlane is Alan's mother and was for many years married to a tea-planter in Assam. She wrote for History Today in the 1960s and has published many books most notable her translations of Assamese and Gaelic folk stories, published by Chatto and Puffin. In the early 1990s Iris appeared extensively on the BBC British Empire series Ruling Passions. Such is the passion for tea in this family, that Alan has a beautiful, full size Japanese Tea House built in his amazing Zen garden at his house in Cambridge.
