PositiveThe Financial TimesWhile abundant historical records have allowed the study of how tea itself moved from east to west, Rappaport is focused on the movement of the idea of tea to suit particular purposes … A Thirst for Empire is an authoritative and exhaustive work of scholarship, and Rappaport supports her broad claims by building from the ground up, with meticulous referencing comprising more than 100 pages … Rappaport’s treatment of her subject is refreshingly apolitical. Indeed, it is a virtue that readers will be unable to guess her political orientation: both the miracle of markets and capitalism’s dark underbelly are evident in tea’s complex story, as are the complicated effects of British colonialism. Shortly into this history the reader relaxes: Rappaport is clearly motivated by truth-telling rather than case-making.
