Green Gold: The Empire of Tea (Hardcover)

“Green Gold” describes how and why tea “took over the world”, and the consequences of this, in particular for those who lived and worked in the tea gardens. As just one example, 6,884 tea garden labourers died on the roads of Assam as the Japanese marched in during the Second World War, a number described as a “gratifyingly low” by the authorities.

While the book does take the reader from the origins of tea to the changes in Indian tea gardens after Independence, there is much, much more to it than simply an historical tale. For me, the high points of the book are its insights into the nature of Empire and Britain’s influence and responsibility (or irresponsibility) around the world.

This wide-ranging approach to history must be in part due to Alan Macfarlane’s instincts as a social anthropologist, as well as his mother, Iris Macfarlane's fascinating account of her time on a plantation.

Do not be put off by the recent review in the “London Review of Books”, as this did not seem to convey quite how varied and refreshing a brew has been concocted (although it is an interesting and lengthy insight into the reviewer’s personal enjoyment of tea).

My only hint of frustration was caused by the occasional broad sweeping statement, for example, the description of the timing and size of industrialisation in Germany, Britain and elsewhere, which was supported by only sparse evidence. I do not recall Professor Macfarlane allowing a student of his to get away with such an approach without making a gentle comment.

The book is littered throughout with thought-provoking insights that get the grey cells going (for example, did you know that blocks of tea have been used as a common currency in parts of China?), and ends with a lightning tour through some of the recent, and extensive, medical research on the benefits of tea.

It is interesting that this book comes at a time when not only has there been scientific research on the seemingly trivial matter of how to make the perfect cup of tea (!), but also when the history of Empire is being revisited, as in Linda Colley’s “Captives”. If either end of this spectrum interests you, then “Green Gold” surely will too.

Finally, if a second edition is printed, a map of relevant tea-growing areas would be helpful.

I bought the book hoping to learn something of the history of tea and its production and was not disappointed. However, the book is full of unsubstantiated statements of the "tea could have..." and "it seems possible that tea..." variety, made in an effort to support the author's thesis about Empire and Industrialism. Other than the demonstrable benefit to British health from drinking boiled water, support for the thesis seems shaky at best. I do not doubt that 18th and 19th century tea drinking was a factor in the expansion of the empire and of industrialisation, but the book fails to prove that it was a major factor or even necessary. For example, Dutch production of tea in what is now Indonesia preceeded British production in Assam, yet there is no comparison of the effects of tea drinking in the two countries. Nor any factual support for the frequent statements about tea drinking making factory work bearable.