Frank SkorniaMar 13

This week I'm reading 'The Empire of Tea' by Alan MacFarlane

This is a nonfiction history looking at the rise of tea in human society and mainly how it shaped and was shaped by the British Empire with a particular focus on the efforts to develop tea production in the Assam region of India.
It's okay so far, a little unfocused at times, and I'm hoping that later on it becomes more critical of imperialism.

#FridayReads
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Show threadclewMar 13

may I recommend also _The Great Hedge of India_, Moxham, which is also about tea and salt and the hedge and archives and the rise and dissolution of the British Empire?

https://search.worldcat.org/title/59392176

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Show threadFrank Skornia
@clew One thing 'The Empire of Tea' noted was that before the British and East India Company meddled, Assam was almost completely self-sufficient with a high quality of life except for salt because they are landlocked. EIC declared a monopoly on salt imports, and then discovered the region was awash in wild tea trees, making it an opportunity to break from Chinese control
Mar 13 at 6:55pmWeb