A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire
- ISBN-10
- 0061980897
- ISBN-13
- 9780061980893
- Category
- Art
- Pages
- 352
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2009-10-06
- Publisher
- Harper Collins
- Author
- Amy Butler Greenfield
Description
A Perfect Red recounts the colorful history of cochineal, a legendary red dye that was once one of the world's most precious commodities. Treasured by the ancient Mexicans, cochineal was sold in the great Aztec marketplaces, where it attracted the attention of the Spanish conquistadors in 1519. 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. Desperate to find their own sources of the elusive dye, the English, French, Dutch, and other Europeans tried to crack the enigma of cochineal. Did it come from a worm, a berry, a seed? Could it be stolen from Mexico and transplanted to their own colonies? Pirates, explorers, alchemists, scientists, and spies -- all joined the chase for cochineal, a chase that lasted more than three centuries. A Perfect Red tells their stories -- true-life tales of mystery, empire, and adventure, in pursuit of the most desirable color on earth.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2005-04-26
- 356 pages
- Paperback
- Harper Collins
-
- 2011-12-31
- 443 pages
- Paperback
- Random House
Similar books
-
Las Vegas Little Red Book: A Girl's Guide to the Perfect Vegas Getaway
By David Demontmollin, Hiram Todd Norman, Molly SullivanDo this by throwing a $5 toward the stickman and yelling “Horn high yo for the boys.” The “horn bet” is a one-roll $1 bet on the two, three, eleven, and twelve. The “high yo” means that the extra $1 from the $5 goes on the eleven, ...
-
Confidence in the Kitchen: How to feed your family, wow your guests and master the perfect red lip!
By Emmylou MacCarthyThis is a specially formatted fixed-layout ebook that retains the look and feel of the print book.
-
Burnt Yellow and Red
By S. B. NewmanThe world wrapped itself in a prism of brilliant colors, burnt yellow and red, as Kyle slipped into a deep, comfortable sleep—feeling no pain, feeling no fear.Inspired by actual events,Burnt Yellow and Redis a modern war story of men, ...
-
Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel
By Casey McQuistonWhere do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic.
-
Past Perfect Continuous
By Igor Posner, Mary di LuciaThis is a city half-seen and half-recollected, one version overlaid imperfectly on the other, mapping where the past and the present intersect - a fictional city, then, one that is, in a sense, conjured up by the desire to find some lost ...
-
Llama Llama Red Pajama
By Anna DewdneyLlama, Llama red pajama waiting, waiting for his mama. Mama isn't coming yet. Baby Llama starts to fret. Anna Dewdney's classic tale of nighttime drama has been charming readers for over a decade.
-
Red Queen
By Victoria AveyardIrresistibly action-packed and full of lethal surprises, this stunning fantasy series from Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Red Queen series, begins where hope is lost and asks: When the heroes have fallen, who ...
-
Indigo
By Catherine E. McKinleyBut it is also the story of a personal quest: Catherine McKinley's ancestors include a clan of Scots who wore indigo tartan, several generations of Jewish 'rag traders' and Massachusetts textile factory owners, and African slaves who were ...
-
Red Rising
By Pierce BrownNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. “Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field ...
-
Chantress
By Amy Butler GreenfieldAnd her feelings for Nat, an Invisible College apprentice and scientist who deeply distrusts her magic, only add to her confusion… Time is running out, and the fate of England hangs in the balance in this entrancing novel that is ...