Chosen as BBC Radio’s Book of the Week.
“An enthusiastic tale of how the humble leaf became a global addiction.” – The Financial Times
“A compelling sketch of the world of globalisation before the age of instant information, and transforms a modest Scottish botanist into a swashbuckling pirate capitalist, who incidentally changed the way we all have breakfast…. A genuinely curious and evocative yarn.” – The Scotsman
“Our cuppa wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for an amazing Victorian, armed only with a rusty pistol and a pigtail, who stole the secret of tea from under the nose of China’s ruthless warlords.” The Daily Mail
“Surely all those old [tea] parlours that boasted portraits of the Queen or Churchill should have displayed a little picture of The Saviour of The Cuppa, too?” The Sunday Express
“Rose presents tea as the focus of an exotic adventure story.” – The Irish Times
“The Indiana Jones of Tea.” – The Daily Express
“Send up a prayer of thanks for the dogged Scotsman who made it all possible, Robert Fortune.” – The Times of London
“The best parts of the book are not the dangers that Fortune encountered, but Rose’s assured, confident descriptions of the manufacture of tea. Like Fortune, the reader goes on a journey of discovery.” – Mail on Sunday
The Daily Telegraph’s Pick of the Week.
“[For All the Tea in China] will ensure you value your cuppa as never before.” – Country Life
“You dare not read the amazing For All the Tea in China by Sarah Rose. It’ll get you going – in disguise, yet.” – Tattler
“[Fortune’s] story is well worth telling and despite a dearth of private papers Rose does so with skill and restraint.” – The Literary Review
“Enter Robert Fortune, botanist and plant-hunter extraordinaire – as diligent, daring and enterprising a Victorian hero as one could wish for. Sarah Rose tells a stirring tale of individual derring-do and the fate of nations.” – Books Quarterly
“It is a comfy, mildly stimulating, almost tea-like read that adds something to the fascinating history of the leaves of Camellia sinensis.” – Geographical
“Who knew tea could be so…hot?” – Food For Thought
