For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History (original 2009; edition 2010)

by Sarah Rose

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Cooking & Food. History. Nonfiction. HTML:A dramatic historical narrative of the man who stole the secret of tea from China In 1848, the British East India Company, having lost its monopoly on the tea trade, engaged Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, botanist, and plant hunter, to make a clandestine trip into the interior of China�??territory forbidden to foreigners�??to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea horticulture and manufacturing. For All the Tea in China is the remarkable account of Fortune's journeys into China�??a thrilling narrative that combines history, geography, botany, natural science, and old-fashioned adventure. Disguised in Mandarin robes, Fortune ventured deep into the country, confronting pirates, hostile climate, and his own untrustworthy men as he made his way to the epicenter of tea production, the remote Wu Yi Shan hills. One of the most daring acts of corporate espionage in history, Fortune's pursuit of China's ancient secret makes for a classic nineteenth-century adventure tale, one in which the fate of empires hinges on the feats of one extraordi… (more)

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Member:	chrine
Title:	For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History
Authors:	Sarah Rose
Info:	Viking Adult (2010), Hardcover, 272 pages
Collections:	To read
Rating:
Tags:	19th Century, History, Great Britain, China, Tea Trade, Tea, Business Intelligence, East India Company, Himalaya Mountains, Biography, Robert Fortune, 1813-1880, Travel, Spies, STEEPSTER BOOK CLUB, LIBRARY

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For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History by Sarah Rose (2009)

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The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire by Joe Jackson (edwinbcn)

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Lovely. Entertaining & interesting. (

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Kiramke | Jun 27, 2023 |

Wow the British were the worst. Great story though (

)

flemertown | Jul 10, 2021 |

I loved this book! It touches on many of my interests- intellectual property, biology, China and tea. A fascinating sorry of the greatest intellectual property theft in history, stealing the tea plant from China to grow in India. (

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nossanna | Nov 9, 2019 |

I stopped reading this. I will find another book about the history of tea. (

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yhgail | Feb 20, 2019 |

Just not interesting to me. (

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hemlokgang | Oct 30, 2018 |

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Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Social Sciences – 2010)

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Canonical title

Original title

For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2009

People/Characters

Robert Fortune

Important places

China

Important events

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Epigraph

The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.
- Thomas Jefferson

[Tea] is an exceedingly useful plant; cultivate it, and the benefit will be widely spread; drink it, and the animal spirits will be lively and clear.
- Robert Fortune, quoting a Chinese proverb

Dedication

First words

There was a time when maps of the world were redrawn in the name of plants, when two empires, Britain and China went to war over two flowers: the poppy and the camellia.

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Wikipedia in English (3)

Da Hong Pao

Sarah Rose

Wuyi tea

▾Book descriptions

Cooking & Food. History. Nonfiction. HTML:A dramatic historical narrative of the man who stole the secret of tea from China
In 1848, the British East India Company, having lost its monopoly on the tea trade, engaged Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, botanist, and plant hunter, to make a clandestine trip into the interior of China�??territory forbidden to foreigners�??to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea horticulture and manufacturing. For All the Tea in China is the remarkable account of Fortune's journeys into China�??a thrilling narrative that combines history, geography, botany, natural science, and old-fashioned adventure.
Disguised in Mandarin robes, Fortune ventured deep into the country, confronting pirates, hostile climate, and his own untrustworthy men as he made his way to the epicenter of tea production, the remote Wu Yi Shan hills. One of the most daring acts of corporate espionage in history, Fortune's pursuit of China's ancient secret makes for a classic nineteenth-century adventure tale, one in which the fate of empires hinges on the feats of one extraordi

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