For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History

"If ever there was a book to read in the company of a nice cuppa, this is it." -The Washington Post

In the dramatic story of one of the greatest acts of corporate espionage ever committed, Sarah Rose recounts the fascinating, unlikely circumstances surrounding a turning point in economic history. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the British East India Company faced the loss of its monopoly on the fantastically lucrative tea trade with China, forcing it to make the drastic decision of sending Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to steal the crop from deep within China and bring it back to British plantations in India. Fortune's danger-filled odyssey, magnificently recounted here, reads like adventure fiction, revealing a long-forgotten chapter of the past and the wondrous origins of a seemingly ordinary beverage.

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• Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History
• The True History of Tea
• A Social History of Tea: Tea's Influence on Commerce, Culture & Community
• The Cold War: A New History
• Shah of Shahs
• The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide
• The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook: A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas
• America in the World: A History in Documents from the War with Spain to the War on Terror
• The Beauty of Her Age: A Tale of Sex, Scandal and Money in Victorian England