The Empire Of Tea - Hardcover

Macfarlane, Alan; MacFarlane, Iris; Press, The Overlook

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585674931 ISBN 13: 9781585674930

Publisher: Abrams Press, 2004

Synopsis

The author traces the fascinating history of this remarkable plant, from its initial uses as an aid to Buddhist meditation in China during the fourth century B.C. through its remarkable explosion of popularity all around the world, becoming a valued commodity that would change world history. 17,500 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

Alan Macfarlane was born in Shillong, Assam, India in December 1941, son of a tea-planter, and educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, Sedbergh School Yorkshire. He became a Senior Research Fellow at King's College, Cambridge in 1971 and a Lecturer, then Reader, then Professor of Anthropology at Cambridge. He became a Fellow of the British Academy in 1986 and is currently Emeritus Professor of Anthropological Science and Life Fellow of King's College.

From Publishers Weekly:

Iris MacFarlane, a tea planter's wife, lived on a tea estate in Assam, India, for 20 years, and in the first chapter of this informative story of tea, she gives a moving account of her futile attempts to better the lives of the Assamese laborers, whom the British looked down upon as "irremediably inferior" to themselves. Then she and her son Alan, who was born on the estate and is now a professor of social anthropology, delve into the history of the leaf that over thousands of years became "the world's favorite drink," emphasizing the links between tea and political, cultural, social and economic events in China, Japan, India and England, where the British obsession with that "nice cup of tea" fueled the rapid growth of the British Empire. They also expound on the health benefits of tea, listing its many medicinal properties and contending that when tea was first introduced into China, Japan and England, it led to a decline in mortality rates because boiling the water to make it kills harmful bacteria. The story comes full circle in the final chapters, which concentrate on the hardships of the "coolies" who labored to harvest and process tea under the control of their rapacious British overlords. Although the book is more scholarly and less provocative than Roy Moxham's recent indictment of the British tea industry, Tea: A History of Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire, it presents an equally fascinating picture of tea's impact on the lives of millions of people around the world. Illus. not seen by PW.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Abrams Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1585674931
• ISBN 13: 9781585674930
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 308