For All the Tea in China - Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink (Paperback)

Robert Fortune was a Scottish gardener, botanist, plant hunter - and industrial spy. In 1848, the East India Company engaged him to make a clandestine trip into the interior of China - territory forbidden to foreigners - to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea. For centuries, China had been the world's sole tea manufacturer. Britain purchased this fuel for its Empire by trading opium to the Chinese - a poisonous relationship Britain fought two destructive wars to sustain. The East India Company had profited lavishly as the middleman, but now it was sinking, having lost its monopoly to trade tea. Its salvation, it thought, was to establish its own plantations in the Himalayas of British India. There were just two problems: India had no tea plants worth growing, and the company wouldn't have known what to do with them if it had. Hence Robert Fortune's daring trip. The Chinese interior was off-limits and virtually unknown to the West, but that's where the finest tea was grown - the richest oolongs, soochongs and pekoes. And the Emperor aimed to keep it that way.

General

Imprint:	Arrow Books Ltd
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	April 2010
First published:	December 2010
Authors:	Sarah Rose
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 18mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	280
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-949342-6
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Primary industries > Agriculture & related industries Books > Business & Economics > Economics > International economics > International trade > General Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900
LSN:	0-09-949342-X
Barcode:	9780099493426

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