For All the Tea in China

Sarah Rose gives a delightful presentation of her history of tea, outstanding in both the writing and narration. She starts with British botanist Robert Fortune, at sea and under fire by Chinese pirates. His advice to the captain saves the ship. Hired by the East India Company in 1848, Fortune returned to China on a mission to collect tea seeds, plants, and technology. The company planned to transplant the industry to India, where it could control the plants' production--and harvest huge profits. Rose's young American voice has a fresh, contemporary appeal, and she speaks the pervasive Chinese with comfort. The author, having preternatural familiarity with the book, has steeped an appetizing audio brew of Sino-British history, science, and introspective biography. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine