A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire - Softcover

Greenfield, Amy Butler

 
9780060522766: A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0060522763 ISBN 13: 9780060522766
Verlag: Harper Perennial, 2020

Inhaltsangabe

"You’ll finish [Greenfield’s] book with new respect for color, especially for red. With A Perfect Red, she does for it what Mark Kurlansky in Salt did for that common commodity."--Houston Chronicle

Interweaving mystery, empire, and adventure, Amy Butler Greenfield’s masterful popular history offers a window onto a world far different from our own: a world in which the color red was rare and precious--a source of wealth and power for those who could unlock its secrets. And in this world nothing was more prized than cochineal, a red dye that produced the brightest, strongest red the Old World had ever seen.

A Perfect Red recounts the story of this legendary red dye, from its cultivation by the ancient Mexicans and discovery by 16th-century Spanish conquistadors to the European pirates, explorers, alchemists, scientists, and spies who joined in the chase to unlock its secrets, a chase that lasted more than three centuries. It evokes with style and verve this history of a grand obsession, of intrigue, empire, and adventure in pursuit of the most desirable color on earth.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Amy Butler Greenfield's grandfather and great-grandfather were dyers, and she has long been fascinated by the history of color. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in the Adirondacks and graduated from Williams College. As a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, she studied imperial Spain and Renaissance Europe. She now lives with her husband near Boston.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

In the sixteenth century, one of the world's most precious commodities was cochineal, a legendary red dye treasured by the ancient Mexicans and sold in the great Aztec marketplaces, where it attracted the attention of the Spanish conquistadors. Shipped to Europe, the dye created a sensation, producing the brightest, strongest red the world had ever seen. Soon Spain's cochineal monopoly was worth a fortune. As the English, French, Dutch, and other Europeans joined the chase for cochineal -- a chase that lasted for more than three centuries -- a tale of pirates, explorers, alchemists, scientists, and spies unfolds. A Perfect Red evokes with style and verve this history of a grand obsession, of intrigue, empire, and adventure in pursuit of the most desirable color on earth.

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Verlag
Harper Perennial
Erscheinungsdatum
2020
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0060522763
ISBN 13 
9780060522766
Einband
Tapa blanda
Anzahl der Seiten
352
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

Europaallee 1
Bad Hersfeld
36244
Deutschland

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9780060522759: A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, And The Quest For The Color Of Desire

Vorgestellte Ausgabe

ISBN 10:  0060522755 ISBN 13:  9780060522759
Verlag: HarperCollins, 2005
Hardcover