Tea
Friday, September 23, 2016
Introduction
10. For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History
Title: For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History
Length: 272pg
Date of Publication: March 18, 2010
Link:Book
Professional Review
'“In this lively account of the adventures (and misadventures) that lay behind Robert Fortune's bold acquisition of Chinese tea seedlings for transplanting in British India, Sarah Rose demonstrates in engaging detail how botany and empire- building went hand in hand.”'
-Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
Reader Review:
"Sarah Rose has rescued the aptly named Robert Fortune from the footnotes of Victorian obscurity and written an engrossing story explaining one of the great heists of history: how the British stole tea plants from China and successfully transplanted them in India. It's a spy story for gardeners in which daring-do and botany coexist on every page.
Robert Fortune was the son of a Scottish farm worker. Lacking the means to get a formal education, Fortune learned his skills from practical apprenticeship and obtained a post at the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick. His skill at cultivating rare blooms from the Orient in hothouses earned him a ticket to China at the end of the First Opium War. His mandate was to collect rare plants and study the botany of China. He almost died there. As he lay gravely ill, the Chinese junk he was on was attacked by pirates. Fortune roused, rushed up on deck and organized a successful defense. The incident illustrates his courage and resource when confronted by adversity.
On his return to London in 1847, he wrote a book about his experiences in China that became a bestseller. When the British East India Company looked around for a man capable of penetrating into the interior of China and obtaining plant specimens and seeds for purposed tea plantations in India, Fortune was the man they turned to.
This is a fascinating book on many fronts. As a story of corporate espionage, it touches on issues of trade and economics that are controversial today. The technology used to bring viable seeds and plants to India is astounding when one considers that sailing ships were the transportation means of that era. A spotlight is put on the opium trade, an issue that still resonates. Sarah Rose writes with a lively, clear style that makes this a hard book to put down. I recommend this book to historians, tea drinkers, economists, gardeners and corporate policy makers. Brew up a cup and enjoy!"
- Miz Ellen
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the perilous beginnings of tea, as well as the history of tea.
'“In this lively account of the adventures (and misadventures) that lay behind Robert Fortune's bold acquisition of Chinese tea seedlings for transplanting in British India, Sarah Rose demonstrates in engaging detail how botany and empire- building went hand in hand.”'
-Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
-Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
Robert Fortune was the son of a Scottish farm worker. Lacking the means to get a formal education, Fortune learned his skills from practical apprenticeship and obtained a post at the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick. His skill at cultivating rare blooms from the Orient in hothouses earned him a ticket to China at the end of the First Opium War. His mandate was to collect rare plants and study the botany of China. He almost died there. As he lay gravely ill, the Chinese junk he was on was attacked by pirates. Fortune roused, rushed up on deck and organized a successful defense. The incident illustrates his courage and resource when confronted by adversity.
On his return to London in 1847, he wrote a book about his experiences in China that became a bestseller. When the British East India Company looked around for a man capable of penetrating into the interior of China and obtaining plant specimens and seeds for purposed tea plantations in India, Fortune was the man they turned to.
This is a fascinating book on many fronts. As a story of corporate espionage, it touches on issues of trade and economics that are controversial today. The technology used to bring viable seeds and plants to India is astounding when one considers that sailing ships were the transportation means of that era. A spotlight is put on the opium trade, an issue that still resonates. Sarah Rose writes with a lively, clear style that makes this a hard book to put down. I recommend this book to historians, tea drinkers, economists, gardeners and corporate policy makers. Brew up a cup and enjoy!"
9. The True History of Tea
Title: The True History of Tea
Length: 280pg
Date of Publication: March 24, 2009
Link:Book
Professional Review
Erling Hoh has been a correspondent for Archaeology and written on Chinese history and culture for Natural History and others.
Victor H. Mair is Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of many books includingThe True History of Tea and The Tarim Mummies.
-Johnson & Pratt
Reader Review:
"Victor Mair, a well known Sinologist, and his co-author, Erling Hoh, a Swedish writer living in Denmark, have done a remarkable job chronicling the history of this drink. They deal with the botany, cultural diffusion, sociology, and history of the areas into which tea was introduced. The book is well illustrated, and is a fascinating read. Well worth adding to one's library. (I don't believe one would have to be a tea affecianado to enjoy this book)."
- Erik C. Phil
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the Full history of tea and has pictures for the kids ;).
Erling Hoh has been a correspondent for Archaeology and written on Chinese history and culture for Natural History and others.
Victor H. Mair is Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of many books includingThe True History of Tea and The Tarim Mummies.
-Johnson & Pratt
Victor H. Mair is Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of many books includingThe True History of Tea and The Tarim Mummies.
-Johnson & Pratt
8. A Social History of Tea: Tea's Influence on Commerce, Culture & Community
Title: A Social History of Tea: Tea's Influence on Commerce, Culture & Community
Length: 248pg
Date of Publication: December 3, 2013
Link:Book
Professional Review
'“This is the secret side the social history of tea and it has now been revealed in The Social History of Tea in Britain and America. I hope to be only the first of many to bow with thanks and praise to authors Jane Pettigrew and Bruce Richardson.
Here is history as it should be written. In a spell-binding way the story skips merrily along while seeming to skip nothing; it moves quickly but never seems to hurry. We linger in the boudoir of Catherine of Braganza while the tea steeps no longer than whilst you can say the Miserere Psalm very leisurely. Any lover of quaint and curious lore will spend happy hours taking instruction from these authors. I daresay the saga of the subjugation of the English-speaking world by the leaf of this Asian shrub has never been better told, and I say so as one who has studied the matter.
This achievement is all the more remarkable considered as an Anglo-American collaboration. Jane is the (very) English author of the well-known Social History of Tea in Britain published there by the National Trust. Bruce, her American publisher at Benjamin Press, has added American social history to Jane s classic account, blending not only their voices but their points of view. To illustrate: Bruce is surely America s leading historian of the Boston Tea Party, serving as tea authority for the BTP Museum, amongst much else, but Jane s collaboration requires fairness to British policymakers: By 1773, the East India Company faced a surplus of 17 million pounds of tea...more than all England could drink in a year...debts were mounting and the Bank of England refused them any loans...If the East India Company collapsed, the banks and the British treasury would follow. Too big to fail has now become a familiar concept.
With the 20th century everything grew bigger, faster and scarier. Phenomena like the automobile, telephone, Prohibition and back-to-back World Wars changed everything. The glamour of tea gowns, tea dances, tea leaf reading and fancy hotel teas wore off by the half-century and in both UK and US tea quality sank beneath the economics of the teabag. Jane and Bruce have played major roles in the successful rescue effort which we now term our Tea Renaissance but I find too much to praise and will stop here. You re sure to enjoy their secret history.”'
-James Norwood Pratt
Reader Review:
"A Social History of Tea - the Expanded Version - is an excellent tea reference book as well as a good read. Bruce Richardson and Jane Pettigrew have a way of writing a history book that is up-to-date and upbeat in tone. They never fail to please.
Jane Pettigrew is well-known as an enthusiast tea historian who shares her knowledge and love of tea around the world. It is well worth the time to research her author's page and website.
Bruce Richardson, Elmwood Inn and Benjamin Press, is more recently acclaimed for his tea history contributions to the Boston Tea Party commemoration. More about the commemoration can be found at bostonteapartyship.com. Mr. Richardson's tea articles can be read in Fresh Cup magazine, Tea Time (Hoffman Media), and other tea/history/gourmet magazines.
The book isn't just another pretty face although the cover is quite beautiful. A Social History of Tea gives us insight into the growing influence of tea upon society."
- Jennifer C. Peterson
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the impact tea has had across the American and British cultures, and how they impact us today.
'“This is the secret side the social history of tea and it has now been revealed in The Social History of Tea in Britain and America. I hope to be only the first of many to bow with thanks and praise to authors Jane Pettigrew and Bruce Richardson.
Here is history as it should be written. In a spell-binding way the story skips merrily along while seeming to skip nothing; it moves quickly but never seems to hurry. We linger in the boudoir of Catherine of Braganza while the tea steeps no longer than whilst you can say the Miserere Psalm very leisurely. Any lover of quaint and curious lore will spend happy hours taking instruction from these authors. I daresay the saga of the subjugation of the English-speaking world by the leaf of this Asian shrub has never been better told, and I say so as one who has studied the matter.
This achievement is all the more remarkable considered as an Anglo-American collaboration. Jane is the (very) English author of the well-known Social History of Tea in Britain published there by the National Trust. Bruce, her American publisher at Benjamin Press, has added American social history to Jane s classic account, blending not only their voices but their points of view. To illustrate: Bruce is surely America s leading historian of the Boston Tea Party, serving as tea authority for the BTP Museum, amongst much else, but Jane s collaboration requires fairness to British policymakers: By 1773, the East India Company faced a surplus of 17 million pounds of tea...more than all England could drink in a year...debts were mounting and the Bank of England refused them any loans...If the East India Company collapsed, the banks and the British treasury would follow. Too big to fail has now become a familiar concept.
With the 20th century everything grew bigger, faster and scarier. Phenomena like the automobile, telephone, Prohibition and back-to-back World Wars changed everything. The glamour of tea gowns, tea dances, tea leaf reading and fancy hotel teas wore off by the half-century and in both UK and US tea quality sank beneath the economics of the teabag. Jane and Bruce have played major roles in the successful rescue effort which we now term our Tea Renaissance but I find too much to praise and will stop here. You re sure to enjoy their secret history.”'
-James Norwood Pratt
Here is history as it should be written. In a spell-binding way the story skips merrily along while seeming to skip nothing; it moves quickly but never seems to hurry. We linger in the boudoir of Catherine of Braganza while the tea steeps no longer than whilst you can say the Miserere Psalm very leisurely. Any lover of quaint and curious lore will spend happy hours taking instruction from these authors. I daresay the saga of the subjugation of the English-speaking world by the leaf of this Asian shrub has never been better told, and I say so as one who has studied the matter.
This achievement is all the more remarkable considered as an Anglo-American collaboration. Jane is the (very) English author of the well-known Social History of Tea in Britain published there by the National Trust. Bruce, her American publisher at Benjamin Press, has added American social history to Jane s classic account, blending not only their voices but their points of view. To illustrate: Bruce is surely America s leading historian of the Boston Tea Party, serving as tea authority for the BTP Museum, amongst much else, but Jane s collaboration requires fairness to British policymakers: By 1773, the East India Company faced a surplus of 17 million pounds of tea...more than all England could drink in a year...debts were mounting and the Bank of England refused them any loans...If the East India Company collapsed, the banks and the British treasury would follow. Too big to fail has now become a familiar concept.
With the 20th century everything grew bigger, faster and scarier. Phenomena like the automobile, telephone, Prohibition and back-to-back World Wars changed everything. The glamour of tea gowns, tea dances, tea leaf reading and fancy hotel teas wore off by the half-century and in both UK and US tea quality sank beneath the economics of the teabag. Jane and Bruce have played major roles in the successful rescue effort which we now term our Tea Renaissance but I find too much to praise and will stop here. You re sure to enjoy their secret history.”'
-James Norwood Pratt
Jane Pettigrew is well-known as an enthusiast tea historian who shares her knowledge and love of tea around the world. It is well worth the time to research her author's page and website.
Bruce Richardson, Elmwood Inn and Benjamin Press, is more recently acclaimed for his tea history contributions to the Boston Tea Party commemoration. More about the commemoration can be found at bostonteapartyship.com. Mr. Richardson's tea articles can be read in Fresh Cup magazine, Tea Time (Hoffman Media), and other tea/history/gourmet magazines.
The book isn't just another pretty face although the cover is quite beautiful. A Social History of Tea gives us insight into the growing influence of tea upon society."
7. Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World's Greatest Tea
Title: Empire of Tea: The Asian Leaf that Conquered the World
Length: 288pg
Date of Publication: July 13, 2015
Link:Book
Professional Review
'“There is no leaf unturned in Barcelona-based food journalist Koehler's (Spain: Recipes and Traditions, 2013, etc.) exposition on the growing of Darjeeling tea . . . A thorough account that tracks the growing and processing of this fine tea against the wider changes in today's India.”'
Kirkus Reviews
Reader Review:
"Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World’s Greatest Tea was an absolutely fabulous read. So often with food history books, the writer gets so tied up in the cold information and forgets to make the reader feel attachment to the subject. Koehler did not do that here. He seamlessly blends the information about the tea itself and the history surrounding it with beautiful imagery and powerful emotive writing. As the reader, you truly experience the ups and downs of being involved with Darjeeling: you revel in a successful selling flush and you are devastated by a particularly bad monsoon season.
It is a really romantic story, one that starts with questionable characters and the stealing of Chinese secrets. Today, the story is of these struggling gardens with a beautiful, unique product made by the old ways in this special area that also hosts all these perilous factors of terrible weather, inaccessibility, unstable politics, and a waning workforce. Talk about an uphill climb!
The delicacy of Darjeeling combined with the urgency many of the gardens face to remain open created great tension throughout the book. It really is a product that cannot be made anywhere else, a handicraft of centuries. I loved the description of the daily workings of the gardens. It’s stunning how hard they all work every day for mere pounds of the tea. The opening section (a tea auction that fetches a record price for Darjeeling) was particularly exhilarating.
I absolutely LOVED the beginning sections for each part that gave the reader a ‘taste’ of that season’s flush. It is now a life goal of mine to try Darjeeling autumn flush tea (p.167-9) as that part was my favorite of the whole book. Koehler just does such a wonderful job of controlling the flow of the book, jumping from the big perspective of the historical sweep down to the moment-in-time perspective of individual garden managers and a single cup of tea.
At the end of the book is a list of recipes as well. What foodie does not love that! I already am planning to try three recipes: the masala omelet, Glenburn’s chicken and fresh mint hamper sandwiches, and the specced chicken cutlets. Yum! A big thank-you to Koehler for a lovely read that now has a treasured place on my bookshelf!
Favorite quotation: “Fermentation is simply a process of death and decay. We are afraid of death—but love the flavor of it.” (p. 84)
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through the GoodReads First Reads program. I want to thank Bloomsbury Publishing for the copy and the opportunity to read it."
- jjstiv02
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the beginnings of this highly valued and highly elite commodity, and follows it up to the present day.
'“There is no leaf unturned in Barcelona-based food journalist Koehler's (Spain: Recipes and Traditions, 2013, etc.) exposition on the growing of Darjeeling tea . . . A thorough account that tracks the growing and processing of this fine tea against the wider changes in today's India.”'
Kirkus ReviewsIt is a really romantic story, one that starts with questionable characters and the stealing of Chinese secrets. Today, the story is of these struggling gardens with a beautiful, unique product made by the old ways in this special area that also hosts all these perilous factors of terrible weather, inaccessibility, unstable politics, and a waning workforce. Talk about an uphill climb!
The delicacy of Darjeeling combined with the urgency many of the gardens face to remain open created great tension throughout the book. It really is a product that cannot be made anywhere else, a handicraft of centuries. I loved the description of the daily workings of the gardens. It’s stunning how hard they all work every day for mere pounds of the tea. The opening section (a tea auction that fetches a record price for Darjeeling) was particularly exhilarating.
I absolutely LOVED the beginning sections for each part that gave the reader a ‘taste’ of that season’s flush. It is now a life goal of mine to try Darjeeling autumn flush tea (p.167-9) as that part was my favorite of the whole book. Koehler just does such a wonderful job of controlling the flow of the book, jumping from the big perspective of the historical sweep down to the moment-in-time perspective of individual garden managers and a single cup of tea.
At the end of the book is a list of recipes as well. What foodie does not love that! I already am planning to try three recipes: the masala omelet, Glenburn’s chicken and fresh mint hamper sandwiches, and the specced chicken cutlets. Yum! A big thank-you to Koehler for a lovely read that now has a treasured place on my bookshelf!
Favorite quotation: “Fermentation is simply a process of death and decay. We are afraid of death—but love the flavor of it.” (p. 84)
*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through the GoodReads First Reads program. I want to thank Bloomsbury Publishing for the copy and the opportunity to read it."
6. Puer Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic (Culture, place, and nature)
Title: Puer Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic (Culture, place, and nature)
Length: 272pg
Date of Publication: January 23, 2014
Link:Book
Professional Review
'"An admirably coherent analysis of the complex social relationships that shaped the Pu'er market. . . . and a fine addition to the literature on the cultural biographies of commodities. . . . Recommended for the teaching of political economy, cultural economy, Chinese social transformation, and regional development studies."'―China Quarterly
Reader Review:
Reader Review:
"The literature in English on Chinese tea is still rather limited, while that in Chinese is reaching the size of the famous tea mountains themselves. This important book is a major contribution to the English speaking world of people interested in tea.
I saw my first Puer tea cakes in Beijing in 1983, but not knowing what kind of tea they were I dismissed them as a kind of very cheap strange tea and thus missed the chance to get to know some of the most interesting tea on the market at an early point. My next encounter with Puer tea happened in 2005 and 2006 when I was visiting different tea places in Hangzhou, Fujian and Guangzhou with some Chinese tea experts. Besides studying and enjoying the local teas there was always much talk about and interest in having some Puer. At a tea appraisal in Guangzhou I got to see and taste hundreds of very different Puer tea cakes. Frankly speaking, I had at the time no clear idea what I was enjoying, but got fascinated and began my study. It took years to find any reliable information in print and only through drinking with connoisseurs in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and with Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese did I begin to truly appreciate the many differences. This eventually led me to join a tea tour to Xishuangbanna and other parts of Yunnan in 2011. The small group met in Kunming and was joined by the anthropologist Jinghong Zhang, the author of this book, and after flying down to Jinghong we immediately set out for Yiwu, one of the main places of her research over the years, and for the first time, the veil was lifted and I got to know some of the secrets of Puer. However, even after another visit to Xishuangbanna the following year there were still many unanswered questions about this tea shrouded in mystery.
Jinghong Zhang's contribution is of immense value as it answers many of those and even unthought-of questions. The book does not describe, compare or discuss many details about particular Puer teas like other books and articles about Puer tea, but gives an insight into the history of Puer tea, from its earliest beginnings as tribute tea and an export article carried on horseback and mules to distant lands over long mountain trails and up through the Qing dynasty until everything changed in 1949 and what happened then. The book reveals how handcrafted Puer tea was replaced by State factories, how ancient tea trees in the natural environment of the forests were felled to give way for terrace plantation and finally, how, after a lapse of half a century, the tea farmers of Yiwu who had been reduced to mere providers of raw material for the tea factories, were encouraged and taught by some Taiwanese how to make tea as had their ancestors from the remaining ancient tea trees which eventually lead to a craze about Puer tea. It is really a very engaging story of Post Mao Reform China. The book covers all relevant subjects of the rediscovery of Puer tea, its boom as a financial investment due to the tea’s improvement with age and therefore increasing value to its sudden bust in 2007 and the consequences this lead to for both growers, producers, merchants, investors and, of course, the drinkers of this fabulous tea due to various factors fully explained and much more.
This book alone (there is no other such study) describes an important chapter of tea history. It is very well researched, not only scholarly and through all relevant literature, but with a lot of field work, personal experience, interviews with major actors in that history and everything related. The book is very well written and weaves its story around the Chinese concept of Jianghu, literally meaning “rivers and lakes”, but referring to that non-governmental and therefore unregulated space in which hermits, knights-errants and others outside mainstream played their roles in society in an unpredictable way and who have been the subjects celebrated in literature and on film. It is a very interesting angle on this complex history and goes a long way to explain the fascinating story of Puer.
The text gives a lot of well documented references. At the end, the book gives a systematic description of the different kinds of Puer tea. Each chapter has substantial notes There is a full list of reference works, an index, and not least, a glossary of all Chinese words and statements appearing in the book covering everything from tea to philosophy and politics etc.with the English translation and including the respective Chinese characters, which is of great help to those familiar with Chinese.
I can warmly recommend this important book to all seriously interested in the history of Chinese tea in general, and it is an absolutely must read for all lovers of Puer tea.
This from a life-long drinker of tea living in Japan and deeply immersed in Japanese tea ceremony and all aspects of tea."
-Søren M. Chr. Bisgaard
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the full history of the Puer Tea, a traditional Tibetan tea that is shrouded in mystery mostly because it is hard to find books on it.
"The literature in English on Chinese tea is still rather limited, while that in Chinese is reaching the size of the famous tea mountains themselves. This important book is a major contribution to the English speaking world of people interested in tea.
I saw my first Puer tea cakes in Beijing in 1983, but not knowing what kind of tea they were I dismissed them as a kind of very cheap strange tea and thus missed the chance to get to know some of the most interesting tea on the market at an early point. My next encounter with Puer tea happened in 2005 and 2006 when I was visiting different tea places in Hangzhou, Fujian and Guangzhou with some Chinese tea experts. Besides studying and enjoying the local teas there was always much talk about and interest in having some Puer. At a tea appraisal in Guangzhou I got to see and taste hundreds of very different Puer tea cakes. Frankly speaking, I had at the time no clear idea what I was enjoying, but got fascinated and began my study. It took years to find any reliable information in print and only through drinking with connoisseurs in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and with Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese did I begin to truly appreciate the many differences. This eventually led me to join a tea tour to Xishuangbanna and other parts of Yunnan in 2011. The small group met in Kunming and was joined by the anthropologist Jinghong Zhang, the author of this book, and after flying down to Jinghong we immediately set out for Yiwu, one of the main places of her research over the years, and for the first time, the veil was lifted and I got to know some of the secrets of Puer. However, even after another visit to Xishuangbanna the following year there were still many unanswered questions about this tea shrouded in mystery.
Jinghong Zhang's contribution is of immense value as it answers many of those and even unthought-of questions. The book does not describe, compare or discuss many details about particular Puer teas like other books and articles about Puer tea, but gives an insight into the history of Puer tea, from its earliest beginnings as tribute tea and an export article carried on horseback and mules to distant lands over long mountain trails and up through the Qing dynasty until everything changed in 1949 and what happened then. The book reveals how handcrafted Puer tea was replaced by State factories, how ancient tea trees in the natural environment of the forests were felled to give way for terrace plantation and finally, how, after a lapse of half a century, the tea farmers of Yiwu who had been reduced to mere providers of raw material for the tea factories, were encouraged and taught by some Taiwanese how to make tea as had their ancestors from the remaining ancient tea trees which eventually lead to a craze about Puer tea. It is really a very engaging story of Post Mao Reform China. The book covers all relevant subjects of the rediscovery of Puer tea, its boom as a financial investment due to the tea’s improvement with age and therefore increasing value to its sudden bust in 2007 and the consequences this lead to for both growers, producers, merchants, investors and, of course, the drinkers of this fabulous tea due to various factors fully explained and much more.
This book alone (there is no other such study) describes an important chapter of tea history. It is very well researched, not only scholarly and through all relevant literature, but with a lot of field work, personal experience, interviews with major actors in that history and everything related. The book is very well written and weaves its story around the Chinese concept of Jianghu, literally meaning “rivers and lakes”, but referring to that non-governmental and therefore unregulated space in which hermits, knights-errants and others outside mainstream played their roles in society in an unpredictable way and who have been the subjects celebrated in literature and on film. It is a very interesting angle on this complex history and goes a long way to explain the fascinating story of Puer.
The text gives a lot of well documented references. At the end, the book gives a systematic description of the different kinds of Puer tea. Each chapter has substantial notes There is a full list of reference works, an index, and not least, a glossary of all Chinese words and statements appearing in the book covering everything from tea to philosophy and politics etc.with the English translation and including the respective Chinese characters, which is of great help to those familiar with Chinese.
I can warmly recommend this important book to all seriously interested in the history of Chinese tea in general, and it is an absolutely must read for all lovers of Puer tea.
This from a life-long drinker of tea living in Japan and deeply immersed in Japanese tea ceremony and all aspects of tea."
5. The Ancient Tea Horse Road
Title: The Ancient Tea Horse Road
Length: 296pg
Date of Publication: August 4, 2012
Link:Book
Professional Review
I could not find any professional reviews.
Reader Review:
"I first read the Kindle version of Ancient Tea Horse Road over one year ago. It's a rare book that has a special place in my heart because I can read it again and again with the same wonderment as the first time. When I bought it, I had just returned from a trek in the Yunnan province of China -- two days on the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail and another five day trek to ethnic villages with three mules and their owners -- a trip that had completely won my heart and soul to the Chinese. It's hard to describe to westernized Americans the simple but deep-hearted ways of the mountain villagers of China. So when I bought this book, I was curious if Fuchs, as a westernized white man, would do justice to a culture so vastly different from our own. Fuchs surprised me greatly. He superbly captures in well-crafted words the nuances of the Chinese ethnic groups, their unique lifestyles, their humanity and their respect for the mountains, and their partnerships with their mules and horses, as well as his own love and respect for the people who shared their lives and stories with him. The book captures my imagination so vividly! As I read, I find myself watching an adventuresome movie with impossible challenges and a cast of strange characters headed to the unknown beyond the next mountain, but only if we stay alive! So who is this Jeff Fuchs, I ask myself. Re-incarnated perhaps from the soul of Beryl Markham? Her stories captured my admiration in her well-written and now a classic book "West with the Night", stories about flying and life in Africa. It's the very same way Jeff Fuchs' stories about trekking and living in the mountains of western China captured my admiration. Fuchs, Markham, Hemmingway, Lewis and Clark, Captain Scott . . . they all share their passions so well."
- T. Reed
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the ancient trade routs of tea and how tea was originally moved on horseback.
I could not find any professional reviews.
4. Empire of Tea: The Asian Leaf that Conquered the World
Title: Empire of Tea: The Asian Leaf that Conquered the World
Length: 288pg
Date of Publication: July 13, 2015
Link:Book
Professional Review
'“Empire of Tea is a wonderfully wide-ranging and illuminating study of tea (the commodity, the drink, its rituals, its associations) that combines a long-term history of its changing place in the national, imperial, and global economy with fascinating insights into how it became embedded in British culture. Commodity histories tell us not just about our material life but reveal the dynamics of culture.Empire of Tea is one of the best.”'
John Brewer, California Institute of Technology
Reader Review:
"This is an interesting book, but despite the title the focus is Great Britain. I was looking for the history of a commodity and its global impact. Much of that is here, because of the powerful influence of the British and their empire on global trade. The book could use a bit more natural history of tea, maybe ten or twenty pages on how and where it was planted, harvested and marketed traditionally when it became an important item of trade around 1700. There's some of that, but the book would be strengthened, I think, with more detail. The book does cover some of the changes such as the fast growth of tea plantations in Assam and Ceylon, and the British search for something to sell China to stem an imbalance of trade, which ultimately was opium. This too is an impact of the empire of tea on the Chinese empire, an especially baleful one that is not particularly well addressed in the book.
That said, this book has some strengths. The writing is very good, and the illustrations excellent and worth a careful study in themselves. The early trade is very well discussed, and Chapter 3 on the tea trade with China overall is the best account I have read anywhere, covering ships, warehouses, agents, Chinese go-betweens and the rather rigorous accounting system.
Several chapters discuss the growing taste for tea in Britain. This includes that at first tea was a rare commodity and society had to explore what its uses might be, the upper crust gradually acquiring a taste for tea and tea as a dominating fashion. As is often the case, a habit of the rich and powerful gradually became democratized (Chapter 9 covers this). Other chapters worth noting are Chapter 6 on marketing tea in Britain, Chapter 8 on smuggling and taxation (this gets a bit confusing, but the very widespread rejection of government taxation and authority reminds me of tea in the colonies). Chapter 10 among other aspects, has a rather good discussion of the Boston Tea Party. Chapter 11 covers tea becoming the national drink, and has intriguing details on social commentators bemoaning that the poor spent so much on tea--at the same time that tea was becoming a mark of Britishness, something the lowest servant and greatest lord had in common.
Chapter 12 looks at 20th century tea, and while interesting, seems to me to be a bit lacking in focus, partly made up by the wonderful irony of staid English companies being bought up by multinational corporations owned and run by investors in India."
- lyndonbrecht
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the east India trading company and Britan's large impact over the global trade commodity known as tea.
'“Empire of Tea is a wonderfully wide-ranging and illuminating study of tea (the commodity, the drink, its rituals, its associations) that combines a long-term history of its changing place in the national, imperial, and global economy with fascinating insights into how it became embedded in British culture. Commodity histories tell us not just about our material life but reveal the dynamics of culture.Empire of Tea is one of the best.”'
John Brewer, California Institute of TechnologyThat said, this book has some strengths. The writing is very good, and the illustrations excellent and worth a careful study in themselves. The early trade is very well discussed, and Chapter 3 on the tea trade with China overall is the best account I have read anywhere, covering ships, warehouses, agents, Chinese go-betweens and the rather rigorous accounting system.
Several chapters discuss the growing taste for tea in Britain. This includes that at first tea was a rare commodity and society had to explore what its uses might be, the upper crust gradually acquiring a taste for tea and tea as a dominating fashion. As is often the case, a habit of the rich and powerful gradually became democratized (Chapter 9 covers this). Other chapters worth noting are Chapter 6 on marketing tea in Britain, Chapter 8 on smuggling and taxation (this gets a bit confusing, but the very widespread rejection of government taxation and authority reminds me of tea in the colonies). Chapter 10 among other aspects, has a rather good discussion of the Boston Tea Party. Chapter 11 covers tea becoming the national drink, and has intriguing details on social commentators bemoaning that the poor spent so much on tea--at the same time that tea was becoming a mark of Britishness, something the lowest servant and greatest lord had in common.
Chapter 12 looks at 20th century tea, and while interesting, seems to me to be a bit lacking in focus, partly made up by the wonderful irony of staid English companies being bought up by multinational corporations owned and run by investors in India."
3. Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History
Title: Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History
Length: 306pg
Date of Publication: August 5, 2015
Link:Book
Professional Review
"The book contains a wealth of material on the social and intellectual interchange between the Buddhist clergy and wide sections of the educated laity. It deserves the attention of all whose interest lies in the role of religion in the life of the Chinese elite." - Religious Studies Review
Reader Review:
"I can only agree 100% with Matthew London's review (the only other one so far). This is a major work. It covers tea in China from the beginning through the Ming Dynasty; it is best on Tang and Song. It draws on a vast range of Chinese sources, almost none of them previously mined in any detail by western writers. It does indeed, as London says, avoid the tired myths; it breaks new ground and provides us new translations throughout. Benn shows that tea was closely associated with Buddhism from the beginning through Song. He provides details on differing ways of brewing the stuff over the centuries. He has some fun with the incredible lengths of tea connoisseur-ship, which resemble wine snobbery today. For anyone interested in tea, or in the history of Chinese consumption, this is an indispensable book."
- E. N. Anderson
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the transformation of china through the lens of tea, and how tea changed China's religious and political scene.
2. Tea: The Drink That Changed The World
Title: Tea: The Drink That Changed The World
Length: 392pg
Date of Publication: February 3, 2011
Link:Book
Professional Review
'"The well-traveled Griffiths is a snappy writer, making this informative and essential book for tea-lovers an entertaining read."' —The Bloomsbury Review
Reader Review:
Reader Review:
"I have spent a little time alongside the tea-trade where English families have worked for four and five generations: Mister Griffiths know his subject inside and out, and I would be surprised had he not plenty of ancestors in the trade. The detail can seem daunting at first but it ultimately proves as satisfying as a pot of First-Flush Darjeeling (no tea-bags, milk or sugar if you please, just as the cognoscenti take it).
For the thrill-seeker it is all here: exploration, industrial espionage, gunboat diplomacy, cut-throat competition and foul tricks, high-society and the rest. For the new lovers of tea the author even teaches how to brew the best cup possible. For a general reader, a roller-coaster-ride of history, science and fact.
Want to know the dirty politics and (largely unreported) skulduggery behind the Boston Tea Party? The botany of tea and the amazingly complex job of running a tea-estate? Every ancient trick of the trade (mercifully abandoned) from smuggling to adulteration? Why tea-caddies needed locks or why last year's costly porcelain tea-service had to be given to the servants and replaced? What the contemporaries of Confucius thought of tea (and why we know they were misquoted)? Why the Chinese might sneer at Japanese tea-drinking, vice-versa, and why they both should sneer at us? How tea came to be savoured in India and who grows the most now (clue: neither China nor India)? This list hardly scrapes the surface of fascinations on offer.
Read this hugely entertaining book and delight your tea-drinking friends, or learn enough detail to become a tea-snob and drive them crazy; it's up to you. Even if you are some poor soul who lives on instant-coffee, read it and upgrade your life."
-S. J. Masty
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the full history of tea, ranging from 2,500 AD all the way up to the present day. It teaches about the various aspects of tea such as the medicinal properties, as well as the labor and what tea influenced on the global scale.
"I have spent a little time alongside the tea-trade where English families have worked for four and five generations: Mister Griffiths know his subject inside and out, and I would be surprised had he not plenty of ancestors in the trade. The detail can seem daunting at first but it ultimately proves as satisfying as a pot of First-Flush Darjeeling (no tea-bags, milk or sugar if you please, just as the cognoscenti take it).
For the thrill-seeker it is all here: exploration, industrial espionage, gunboat diplomacy, cut-throat competition and foul tricks, high-society and the rest. For the new lovers of tea the author even teaches how to brew the best cup possible. For a general reader, a roller-coaster-ride of history, science and fact.
Want to know the dirty politics and (largely unreported) skulduggery behind the Boston Tea Party? The botany of tea and the amazingly complex job of running a tea-estate? Every ancient trick of the trade (mercifully abandoned) from smuggling to adulteration? Why tea-caddies needed locks or why last year's costly porcelain tea-service had to be given to the servants and replaced? What the contemporaries of Confucius thought of tea (and why we know they were misquoted)? Why the Chinese might sneer at Japanese tea-drinking, vice-versa, and why they both should sneer at us? How tea came to be savoured in India and who grows the most now (clue: neither China nor India)? This list hardly scrapes the surface of fascinations on offer.
Read this hugely entertaining book and delight your tea-drinking friends, or learn enough detail to become a tea-snob and drive them crazy; it's up to you. Even if you are some poor soul who lives on instant-coffee, read it and upgrade your life."
1. Tea: A Global History
Title: Tea: A Global History
Length: 183pg
Date of Publication: October 19, 2012
Link:Book
Booklist Professional Review
"As English grandmothers say, a good cup a tea puts the world to right. The English, of course, are not the only tea consumers in the world; in fact, as the subtitle of this handy, informative little survey indicates, tea is enjoyed the world over and ranks, globally, as the second-most-popular beverage after water. Botanical details about the tea plant and a discussion of the six types of tea (determined by the method for treating the leaves for consumption) leads the author to a fuller examination of the history of tea cultivation and usage in Asia and in the Western world. Reader interest will be more closely focused on tea preferences and customs in England and the U.S. For instance, how the tradition of afternoon tea was born in England will delight public-library tea drinkers, and those with a historical bent will be interested in how the story of the Boston Tea Party is placed here into the general history of Americans’ fondness for tea. The author concludes with optimism over tea’s continued popularity." --Brad Hooper
Reader Review:
'"his book is very good at presenting the production of tea and tea culture around the world. In China, Japan, Indonesia and India there is information about the growing and gardens. The chapter on Caravans and Mediterranean Shores”' is perhaps unique in talking about the '“Tea-Horse Road”', the Silk Road, and the Siberian Routes that were all avenues of tea. My own native St. Louis is presented as the first to popularize ice tea during the 1904 World’s Fair. My parents met at a tea dance in college, but this very different than combination with Tango dancing in 1913 to create a tea dance called The Dansant
The chapter '“Tea Comes to the West”', writes of the route of Tea into Europe and America. So the reader is introduced to the East India Company, and the Race for clipper ships. She does not overlook that nastiness in the Boston harbor.
The book is wonderfully illustrated in color, some favorites included an 1820 engraving '“Method of gathering Tea my means of Monkeys”', “Men laden with tea bricks for Tibet”, and a “1910 caricature of American suffragettes having a tea party in jail”'.
Readers of this might also enjoy '“A Social History of Tea”' by Pettigrew and Richardson."
The chapter '“Tea Comes to the West”', writes of the route of Tea into Europe and America. So the reader is introduced to the East India Company, and the Race for clipper ships. She does not overlook that nastiness in the Boston harbor.
The book is wonderfully illustrated in color, some favorites included an 1820 engraving '“Method of gathering Tea my means of Monkeys”', “Men laden with tea bricks for Tibet”, and a “1910 caricature of American suffragettes having a tea party in jail”'.
Readers of this might also enjoy '“A Social History of Tea”' by Pettigrew and Richardson."
- Gary Sprandel
What does this book teach the reader?
This book teaches the reader about the economic and social uses of tea and how it changes over different time spans and cultures.
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