I am not a huge fan drinking tea and thank goodness for that, this book would put me off drinking it forever, skullduggery and machinations that would make Machiavelli proud, this book is really interesting from a historic perspective and it imparts a lot of knowledge that should be known

A Dark History of Tea is an Anglophile's dream...a study of the world's most popular drink focusing mainly on the down and dirty details of how tea became Britain's "national beverage." The bulk of the book is concerned with the rise of tea in China and its eventual import into England, highlighting the unfair trade deals, impoverished workers, and illicit smuggling that that made it possible. Charrington-Hollins does a fine job juxtaposing these unsavory details with tea's image as a refined drink in England, showing that even the things thought of as the most upscale can have a dark underbelly. The Opium Wars between China and England take center stage in the riveting middle section of the book, where Charrington-Hollins describes the appalling prevalence of Opium in 19th century England during a time when tea was considered a far too expensive and therefore niche product. The usage of opium to treat everyone from infants to the elderly is especially eye-opening to read about during our modern times when many countries struggle with opioid epidemics.

The main issue I had while finishing up this book was that I found 85% of it to be a great and interesting history lesson, but the final 15% of the book is comprised of a section on the more "occult" uses of tea, such as in witchcraft, "spells", and the readings of tea leaves. While this does fit into the "dark history" aspect of the title, I found it to be a bit of a peculiar tonal shift to end the book on, which prevents me from rating it a full five stars. However, I still would recommend this highly to anyone who enjoys a cuppa and may want to learn more about the lesser known history of the drink.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Pen & Sword History**