‘A superior brew … both authoritative and entertaining’ – The Guardian

‘The breadth and beauty of the book’s analysis mean that the humble cuppa will never taste quite the same again’ – Metro

World-renowned China specialist Victor H. Mair teams up with Erling Hoh to tell the story of tea and its uses from ancient times to the present, from East to West.

Ancient Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Persian and Arabic annals have been thoroughly consulted and the result takes the reader from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the fabled tea and horse trade of Central Asia, from Britain’s love affair with tea to the 'tea party' that sparked the American Revolution.

Along the way many questions are answered:
• What are tea’s curative properties?
• How did the original green tea evolve into black tea?
• Why did the art of tea drinking become so elaborate in some societies?
• What is the billabong in ‘Waltzing Matilda’?

The True History of Tea brings all these strands together in an erudite tale full of quirky facts and unexpected byways.

Victor H. Mair is Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his publications are The Tarim Mummies, The Prehistory of the Silk Road, The Art of War: Sun Zi’s Military Methods, and many other works dealing with the culture and history of Central Eurasia, East Asia, and South Asia.

Erling Hoh is a former correspondent for Archaeology magazine and the Danish newspaper Dagbladet Information, his articles have also appeared in Natural History, Pour la Science, the Far Eastern Economic Review and numerous other publications.

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