Napoleon called the British a nation of shopkeepers, but it was a nation of tea-drinkers too. Jane Pettigrew shows how tea-drinking has had important social influences. Originally ladies drank tea at home, while their men-folk enjoyed the beverage alongside coffee and chocolate in coffee-houses. In the nineteenth century, however, tea-rooms began to open in towns and cities, enabling respectable women for the first time to eat out unaccompanied, a truly liberating experience.

In this book Jane Pettigrew will redress the balance, using the research that she has carried out over the years, and drawing on the incomparable resource of the National Trust's collections and archives. She will delve into many subject areas - tea gowns, tea dances and social etiquette, for instance - to satisfy an enthusiastic international audience, waiting, thirsty, for more knowledge.

Jane Pettigrew has been involved in the world of tea since opening her tea-shop 'Tea-Time' in Clapham in 1983. Since then she has written several books on tea, and one on coffee, as well as others on the history of food and cooking. These include Tea-time Recipes published by the National Trust. She is currently editor of the Tea International section of Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, which sells in approximately 92 countries. She also writes the UK Tea Council's annual Guide to the Best Tea Places, acts as consultant to the UK Tea Club, and appears regularly on television and radio.
Price: $35.00