Lynda J R. reviewed For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History on + 39 more book reviews
"For All the Tea in China" reminded me of the "The Orchid Thief," but it went so much farther, fitting the theft of tea-growing secrets from China into a whole social, anthropological, political and industrial context that staggers the mind. In 1848, when the British East India Co. hired Robert Fortune, a botanist and plant hunter, to travel to China to steal tea seedlings and seeds, with the hope of growing tea in India, it set off a domino effect that ranged from monetary gain and scientific knowledge to improving the health of the British people and the speed of sailing ships. This is a fascinating look at a part of history that covers a short number of years, but changed the world.
