Tea and Empire

This book brings to life for the first time the remarkable story of James Taylor, father of the Ceylon tea enterprise in the nineteenth century. Publicly celebrated in Sri Lanka for his efforts in transforming the countrys economy and shaping the worlds drinking habits, Taylor died in disgrace and remains unknown to the present day in his native Scotland. Using a unique archive of Taylors letters written over a forty-year period, Angela McCarthy and Tom Devine provide an unusually detailed reconstruction of a British planters life in Asia at the high noon of empire. As well as charting the development of Ceylons key commodities in the nineteenth century, the book examines the dark side of planting life including violence and conflict, oppression and despair. A range of other fascinating themes are evocatively examined, including graphic depictions of the Indian Mutiny, race and ethnicity, migration, environmental transformation, cross-cultural contact, and emotional ties to home. -- .