With her probing inquiry and engaging prose, Sarah Rose paints a fresh and vivid account of life in rural 19th-century China and Fortune's fateful journey into it…if ever there was a book to read in the company of a nice cuppa, this is it.
—The Washington Post

"A wonderful combination of scholarship and storytelling"
-Guy Raz, NPR host All Things Considered.

"With her probing inquiry and engaging prose, Sarah Rose paints a fresh and vivid account of life in rural 19th-century China and Fortune's fateful journey into it...if ever there was a book to read in the company of a nice cuppa, this is it."
-Washington Post

"The plot for Sarah Rose's For All the Tea in China seems tailor-made for a Hollywood thriller...a story that should appeal to readers who want to be transported on a historic journey laced with suspense, science and adventure."
-Associated Press

"An enthusiastic tale of how the humble leaf became a global addiction."
-The Financial Times

"A delicious brew of information on the history of tea cultivation and consumption in the Western world...a remarkably riveting tale."
-Booklist, (starred review)

"In For All the Tea in China, the most eventful era of the tea plant gets the inspired treatment it deserves."
-Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Sarah Rose steeps us in the story of Robert Fortune."
-National Geographic Traveler

"Pause to reflect that the tea you are enjoying is totally hot - as in, stolen! Nabbed! Ripped off! Nothing more than the subject of international corporate espionage!"
-Chicago Sun Times

"In this lively account of the adventures (and misadventures) that lay behind Robert Fortune's bold acquisition of Chinese tea seedlings for transplanting in British India, Sarah Rose demonstrates in engaging detail how botany and empire- building went hand in hand."
-Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China

"As a lover of tea and a student of history, I loved this book. Sarah Rose conjures up the time and tales as British Legacy Teas are created before our eyes. We drink the delicious results of Robert Fortune's adventures every day."
-Michael Harney, author of The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea

"For All The Tea In China is a rousing Victorian adventure story chronicling the exploits of botanical thief Robert Fortune, who nearly single- handedly made the British tea industry possible in India. Sarah Rose has captured the thrill of discovery, the dramatic vistas in the Wuyi Mountains, and the near-disasters involved in Fortune's exploits. For tea-lovers, history buffs, or anyone who enjoys a ripping good read."
-Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World.

Sarah Rose gives a delightful presentation of her history of tea, outstanding in both the writing and narration. She starts with British botanist Robert Fortune, at sea and under fire by Chinese pirates. His advice to the captain saves the ship. Hired by the East India Company in 1848, Fortune returned to China on a mission to collect tea seeds, plants, and technology. The company planned to transplant the industry to India, where it could control the plants' production—and harvest huge profits. Rose's young American voice has a fresh, contemporary appeal, and she speaks the pervasive Chinese with comfort. The author, having preternatural familiarity with the book, has steeped an appetizing audio brew of Sino-British history, science, and introspective biography. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine