Review: The Empire of TeaEditorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsSomewhat stiff but unfailingly informative history of tea, from the widow and son of a tea planter. Though the Macfarlanes' prose cannot be said to be as liquid as its subject ("The idea of adding a leaf to boiling water, however, is not a very obvious one, and certainly not an option open to the monkeys . . . that first consumed tea"), the story of tea can't help but fascinate due to the sheer scope of its influence. Tea played a critical role in the evolution of Japanese porcelain and British ceramics; it fueled the expansion of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution, keeping workers alert beyond the toil and drudgery. It both soothes and invigorates, and its medicinal properties are little short of miraculous: antiseptic and antibacterial, tea "lowers cholesterol levels, reduces blood pressure, helps strengthen the walls of arteries, and consequently reduces the level of strokes and heart disease." It may inhibit cancer and diabetes; the simple boiling of its water helped free humans of waterborne disease. What really captures the reader's attention, though, is the authors' description of the tea plantation, palatial for the managers, squalid and miserable for the workers, from the early colonial farms in Assam to contemporary tea plantations. (The Macfarlanes concentrate on India, though circumstances can't be much different in Sri Lanka, Java, or China.) Tea pickers are mostly women, harvesting approximately 3,000 shoots an hour, "co-ordinated into a reaching-plucking-and-depositing set of movements every second or less for many hours a day, six days a week." They also reap boredom, rotten pay, occasional rape by employers, and the opportunity to be held in contempt by their colonial masters, who once described Indians, for example, as "chilarky . . . a word that covered lying, cheating and a general (innate, of course) inability to resist being saucily devious." Those Twinings cans may be decorative, but the history of their contents is not always so pretty, even as it makes for an absorbing read. (14 b&w illustrations) User reviewsReview: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Atilla Bora - GoodreadsThe book provides a good non-scholarly recap of the history of tea and its evolution, and how it shaped important parts of culture across China, India and Britain; especially focusing on the India ... Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Monkey - GoodreadsA sad little book that sounds like it was written by some colonial tea merchant recalling the old days after one too many gin and tonics. I listened to the book while traveling and was surprised to ... Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - David Lau - GoodreadsGood insight into a tea industry I knew nothing about prior to reading. Very global and very macro. Recommended Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Karen - Goodreadsi enjoyed the historical context of tea with public health improvements, industrialization in England,and global politics. But ended up reading the end fast just to get it over with. Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Amanda - GoodreadsThe book concentrates on tea in India which disappointed me a little as I was hoping for of the history of tea in China and Japan as well. However, it was well written and quite informative. Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Rob Godfrey - GoodreadsA slight exaggeration: 'the plant that took over the world'; but it is a fascinating history, both about the plant itself but also as a social history. Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Ray Campbell - GoodreadsI've read "A History of the World In 6 Glasses", "Salt" and other sketches through the experience of a seemingly trite item. This book is in that category, was not as generalized. The book begins with ... Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Michael Ostendorp - GoodreadsToo much post-colonial guilt and vague pseudo-science, not enough history. Despite a fascinating introductory chapter by the author's mother, and interesting arguments about tea's benefits throughout ... Read full review Review: The Empire of TeaUser Review - Jen - GoodreadsI'm not sure this book deserves a second star, but I'm in a generous mood today, so let's run with it. Let's start with the good things. The introductory chapter where Iris Macfarlane discusses living ... Read full review | User ratings| 5 stars | | | 4 stars | | | 3 stars | | | 2 stars | | | 1 star | |
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