For All The Tea In China

Robert Fortune was a Scottish gardener, botanist, plant hunter - and industrial spy. In 1848, the East India Company engaged him to make a clandestine trip to the interior of China - territory forbidden to foreigners - to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea.

In this lively account of the adventures that lay behind Robert Fortune's bold acquisition of Chinese tea seedlings from transplanting in British India, Sarah Rose demonstrates in engaging detail how botany and empire-building went hand in hand.

It is a very interesting book, strongly recommend to tea lovers.