A Dark History of Tea looks at our long relationship with this most
revered of hot beverages. Renowned food historian Seren
Charrington-Hollins digs into the history of one of the world's oldest
beverages, tracing tea's significance on the tables of the high and
mighty as well as providing relief for workers who had to contend with
the ardours of manual labour.
This humble herbal infusion has been used in burial rituals, as a dowry
payment for aristocrats; it has fuelled wars and spelled fortunes as it
built empires and sipped itself into being an integral part of the
cultural fabric of British life. This book delves into the less tasteful
history of a drink now considered quintessentially British. It tells the
story of how, carried on the backs of the cruelty of slavery and illicit
opium smuggling, it flowed into the cups of British society as an
enchanting beverage.
Chart the exportation of spices, silks and other goods like opium in
exchange for tea, and explain how the array of good fortunes - a huge
demand in Britain, a marriage with sugar, naval trade and the existence
of the huge trading firms - all spurred the first impulses of modern
capitalism and floated countries.
The story of tea takes the reader on a fascinating journey from myth,
fable and folklore to murky stories of swindling, adulteration, greed,
waging of wars, boosting of trade in hard drugs and slavery and the
great, albeit dark engines that drove the globalisation of the world
economy. All of this is spattered with interesting facts about tea
etiquette, tradition and illicit liaisons making it an enjoyable
rollercoaster of dark discoveries that will cast away any thoughts of
tea as something that merely accompanies breaks, sit downs and biscuits.
