Seeds of Empire: The Plants that Built Civilizations (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798273648609)

Could a single seed build an empire?

From the tea fields of China to the sugar plantations of the Caribbean, Seeds of Empire reveals how the plants we cultivate have sown wealth, war, and wonder across the world.

Across centuries and continents, humanity's pursuit of flavor, fiber, and fuel has shaped the rise and fall of civilizations. Sugar fed slavery and rebellion; tea sparked revolution; cotton clothed nations and chained workers; coffee brewed enlightenment and empire.

In vivid, cinematic prose, historian Theo Ashbridge traces the tangled roots of power, greed, and discovery through twenty transformative crops - from cacao and tobacco to wheat and rubber. Each chapter uncovers the hidden stories of explorers, scientists, traders, and laborers whose lives intertwined with the plants that changed the world.

Blending science, history, and human drama, Seeds of Empire shows how the story of civilization is written not just in ink and blood - but in sap, soil, and seed.

Behind every harvest lies a history of ambition, exploitation, and survival.