A Thirst for Empire

How the global tea industry influenced the international economy and the rise of mass consumerismTea has been one of the most popular commodities in the world. For centuries, profits from its growth and sales funded wars and fueled colonization, and its cultivation brought about massive changes-in land use, labor systems, market practices, and

"Winner of a 2018 Gourmand World Cookbook Award, U.S. National Winner in “Tea”"

"Winner of the 2018 PCCBS Book Prize, Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies"

"Co-Winner of the 2018 ASFS Book Award, Association for the Study of Food and Society"

"Winner of the 2018 Jerry Bentley Prize in World History, American Historical Association"

Erika Rappaport is professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Shopping for Pleasure (Princeton) and coeditor of Consuming Behaviors (Bloomsbury).