Putting the Tea in Britain: The Scots Who Made Our National Drink

The book "A Nice Cup of Tea: The Story of Scotland's Tea Industry" explores the dramatic and often violent history of tea, including how Scots were responsible for introducing and developing the UK's national drink. It reveals how Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, and Africa owe their thriving tea industries to pioneering work by Scottish adventurers and entrepreneurs, but also highlights the dark side of this story, including racism, exploitation, and environmental devastation.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 03 June 2021
Publisher: Birlinn General

From the Indian Mutiny to the London Blitz, offering a "nice cup of tea" has been a stock British response to a crisis. However, tea itself has a dramatic and often violent history. That history is inextricably intertwined with the story of Scotland. Scots were overwhelmingly responsible for the introduction and development of the UK's national drink and were the foremost pioneers in the development of tea as an international commodity.

This book reveals how Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, and Africa all owe their thriving tea industries to pioneering work by Scottish adventurers and entrepreneurs. It's a dramatic tale. Many of these men jeopardized their lives to lay the foundation of the tea industry. Many Scots made fortunes, but it is a story with a dark side in which racism, the exploitation of native peoples, and environmental devastation were the prices paid for "a nice cup of tea."

Les Wilson brings the story right up to date, with a look at the recent development of tea plantations in Scottish hills and glens.

Weight: 462g
Dimension: 144 x 223 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781780276571