Do you wonder how tea production moved from China to India in the 19th century? I certainly never did, and I suspect that you’re in the minority if you spend your time thinking about that sort of thing. Even though I had never wondered about Asian tea production, I decided that For all the Tea in China sounded like an interesting book. Sarah Rose follows the travels of Robert Fortune, a British Horticulturist, as he travels to China to learn tea production methods and smuggle plants and seeds out of the Chinese mountains. I’m always impressed by how well documented some people’s lives are; even though he lived over 100 years ago, Fortune’s movements in China are very precise. It is fairly obvious that some parts are imagination on Rose’s part – a smile, a meal, a wince of pain, are these really things that can be proven by historical records? But these interactions that I’m assuming are not necessarily factual are probably good educated guesses on the part of the author.
There was a short mention of something in the closing paragraphs of this book that bothered me a little bit, mostly because the subject had been nagging at me the entire time I was reading. Rose brought up the fact that imported plants can overrun indigenous plants and wreak havoc on natural habitats. As the subject of this book is Robert Fortune’s botanical espionage and not environmental conservation, I can understand that much time was not spent on the subject, but Rose spends so much time putting his actions into context, that it seems awfully abrupt the way this in mentioned.
For all the Tea in China manages to be adventurous and engaging, while also sparking an interest in other historical events that provide context for the tea trade (such as the opium trade and health benefits of tea). Hopefully readers of this book will not only be tea aficionados; the story and writing is sure to appeal to a wide variety of other readers as well.
There was a short mention of something in the closing paragraphs of this book that bothered me a little bit, mostly because the subject had been nagging at me the entire time I was reading. Rose brought up the fact that imported plants can overrun indigenous plants and wreak havoc on natural habitats. As the subject of this book is Robert Fortune’s botanical espionage and not environmental conservation, I can understand that much time was not spent on the subject, but Rose spends so much time putting his actions into context, that it seems awfully abrupt the way this in mentioned.
For all the Tea in China manages to be adventurous and engaging, while also sparking an interest in other historical events that provide context for the tea trade (such as the opium trade and health benefits of tea). Hopefully readers of this book will not only be tea aficionados; the story and writing is sure to appeal to a wide variety of other readers as well.
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