Perfect Red

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Quest for the color that changed the world.

If you're enthralled by the interplay of history, commerce, and science, 'Perfect Red' will captivate your imagination. It's not just a dive into the vibrant hue that revolutionized fashion and status; it's also a sweeping adventure across continents, teeming with espionage and ambition. The dye's story is an unexpected lens through which to view the past, and Greenfield's narrative, richly detailed and paced like a well-crafted novel, brings to life a treaty-tangled chase that's as colorful as the pigment it chases.

  • PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction Writers (2006)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

Perfect Red

Regular price ₱440.55
Unit price
per
ISBN: 9780060522766
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date of Publication: 2006-04-25
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Science, History, Art, Travel
Goodreads rating: 3.87
(rated by 3008 readers)

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.
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Similar Reads

Quest for the color that changed the world.

If you're enthralled by the interplay of history, commerce, and science, 'Perfect Red' will captivate your imagination. It's not just a dive into the vibrant hue that revolutionized fashion and status; it's also a sweeping adventure across continents, teeming with espionage and ambition. The dye's story is an unexpected lens through which to view the past, and Greenfield's narrative, richly detailed and paced like a well-crafted novel, brings to life a treaty-tangled chase that's as colorful as the pigment it chases.

  • PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction Writers (2006)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.