For All The Tea In China : How England Stole The World's Favorite Drink And Changed History
by Sarah Rose

I was really hoping that this book would be as terrific as the title sounds. The synopsis on the dust jacket certainly was intriguing.
Robert Fortune, a Scottish botanist, is sent to China, by the East India Company, to steal seeds and young plants (he is dressed as a mandarin with a long pigtail and appropriate clothing). The tea will be shipped to India and grown in the rich soil of the Himalayas.
It's too bad that the writing wasn't better. The first fifty pages were pretty boring (it took that long just to get to the crux of the story). I should have just stopped right then and there, but I was hoping that the tale would pick up some steam. It didn't.
The reviews on Amazon are insane: riveting, a thriller, can't put it down, suspenseful, fascinating, etc.
Don't waste your time with this one.