This is the story of the author's "ridiculous" quest for a legendary hedge planted across the Indian sub-continent and manned and cared for by 12,000 men. The hedge stood for over 50 years and at its greatest extent, formed part of a barrier 2500 miles long. Although it is one of the largest man-made constructions in human-history, the hedge appears in no history books and remains forgotten in both Britain and India. This inspired Roy Moxham to travel to India and investigate whether it had existed, what its purpose had been and whether any part of it had remained. After several years of travel and research, the author finally unravelled the story behind the hedge, its place within commercial enterprise on the part of the Raj and, after much searching, the remnants of this folie de grandeur of imperial Britain. This book provides a view into the motivations and administrations of British Imperial India and in part tells the story of one man's obsession.

The Great Hedge of India

History

Moxham, Roy

Asia

Isis Large Print Books

From the plantation to the breakfast table—the stimulating history of the world's obsession with tea from its first discovery in China to the present day. Moxham first became fascinated by the history of tea when he applied for a job to manage a plantation in Nyasaland, Africa. His book is a historical journey which includes all levels of society from the royal family to plantation slaves, revolution, and the afternoon ritual. The story he uncovered reveals a fascinating, and occasionally brutal, insight into the history of the British Empire.

A Brief History of Tea

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Beverages & Wine

Running Press

Remarkable" and "astonishing," says Jan Morris of Roy Moxham's account of his search for "one of the least-known wonders of Queen Victoria's India," and John Keay finds it "a compelling read, simply told, and simply wonderful." An unquestionably fascinating tale, as well as a travel book and historical detective story, The Great Hedge of India begins in a secondhand bookshop on London's Charing Cross Road. There Roy Moxham buys the memoir of a nineteenth-century British colonial administrative officer, who makes a passing reference to a giant hedge planted by the British across the Indian subcontinent. That hedge—which for fifty years had been manned and cared for by 12,000 men and had run a length of 2,500 miles—becomes what Moxham calls his "ridiculous obsession." Recounting a journey that takes him to exotic isolated villages deep in the interior of India, Moxham chronicles his efforts to confirm the existence of the extraordinary, impenetrable green wall that had virtually disappeared from two nations' memories. Not only does he discover the shameful role the hedge played in the exploitative Raj and the famines of the late ninteenth century, but he also uncovers what remains of this British grand folly and restores to history what must be counted one of the world's wonders—and a monument to one of the great injustices of Victorian imperialism. "Grandly entertaining ... close to being a perfect story of a fanciful quest."—Boston Globe "A compelling read, simply told and simply wonderful."—John Keay

Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier That Divided a People

Business & Money

Industries

Basic Books

"Remarkable” and “astonishing,” says Jan Morris of Roy Moxham’s account of his search for “one of the least-known wonders of Queen Victoria’s India,” and John Keay finds it “a compelling read, simply told, and simply wonderful.” An unquestionably fascinating tale, as well as a travel book and historical detective story, The Great Hedge of India begins in a secondhand bookshop on London’s Charing Cross Road. There Roy Moxham buys the memoir of a nineteenth-century British colonial administrative officer, who makes a passing reference to a giant hedge planted by the British across the Indian subcontinent. That hedge—which for fifty years had been manned and cared for by 12,000 men and had run a length of 2,500 miles—becomes what Moxham calls his “ridiculous obsession.” Recounting a journey that takes him to exotic isolated villages deep in the interior of India, Moxham chronicles his efforts to confirm the existence of the extraordinary, impenetrable green wall that had virtually disappeared from two nations’ memories. Not only does he discover the shameful role the hedge played in the exploitative Raj and the famines of the late nineteenth century, but he also uncovers what remains of this British grand folly and restores to history what must be counted one of the world’s wonders—and a monument to one of the great injustices of Victorian imperialism. “Grandly entertaining ... close to being a perfect story of a fanciful quest.”—Boston Globe

The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier that Divided a People

Tea came late to popularity in England—after its arrival in Portugal, Holland, and France—but it quickly became a national obsession. And business. Tea gardens and tea shops sprang up everywhere in seventeenth-century England. Demand soon spread to the colonies, where the heavy taxation on tea led to smuggling on a massive scale and, in the New World, cost England her American empire. Tea also drove the British to war with China, to guarantee the supply of pekoe, and it prompted colonists to clear jungles in India, Ceylon, and Africa for huge tea plantations. In time the cultivation of tea would subject more than one million laborers to wretched, often inhuman working conditions. Hundreds of thousands of them would die for the commodity that for four centuries propelled Britain’s economy and epitomized the reach of its empire. Bringing colorful detail and narrative skill to this history, author Roy Moxham—once a tea planter himself—maps the impact of a monumental and imperial British enterprise. In this book, he offers a fully fascinating, and frequently shocking, tale of England’s tea trade—of the lands it claimed, the people it exploited, the profits it garnered, and the cups it filled.

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire

Carroll&Graf

Tea came late to England—after its arrival in Portugal, Holland, and France—but quickly became a national obsession. Tea gardens and shops sprang up everywhere in seventeenth-century England. Demand soon spread to the colonies, where the heavy taxation on tea led to smuggling on a massive scale and, in the New World, cost England her American empire. Tea drove the British to war with China, to guarantee the supply of pekoe, and it prompted colonists to clear jungles in India, Ceylon, and Africa for huge tea plantations. In time, the cultivation of tea would subject more than one million laborers to wretched working conditions. Hundreds of thousands of them would die for the commodity that for four centuries propelled Britain's economy and epitomized the reach of its empire. With the same colorful detail and narrative skill that pushed The Great Hedge of India to international success, author Roy Moxham, once a tea planter himself, maps the impact of a monumental and imperial British enterprise. In this new volume, he offers a fully fascinating, and frequently shocking tale of England's tea trade—of the lands it claimed, the people it exploited, the profits it garnered, and the cups it filled.

Africa

Catherine, an impetuous thirteen year-old girl, sails with her family from England to India in 1709. Her father is an officer in the army of the East India Company. Catherine dreams of Calcutta balls and meeting handsome young men, but her mother has different plans . . . . Based on the life of Catherine Cooke

The East India Company Wife

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Independently published

This is the quest for a lost wonder of the world, in the author's words his 'ridiculous obsession', arose from the chance discovery of some dusty memoirs that told of a mighty hedge spanning the Indian subcontinent in the nineteenth century. 
The hedge was set in place to allow the collection of the Salt Tax by British customs officers, Inspired by the concept of this amazing living barrier, now forgotten, Roy Moxham set off to find out what has happened to it and whether any remnant existed today. His travels in India, and what he found there, form the basis for this illuminating book.
Writer Jan Morris comments, 'At first I thought this remarkable book must be a hoax . . . It tells the story of one of the least-known wonders of Queen Victoria's India - a customs barrier 2,300 miles long, most of it made of hedge. It was patrolled by 12,000 men and would have stretched from London to Constantinople, yet few historians mention it and most of us have never heard of it. Could anything be more astonishing?'

The Great Hedge of India (Quest for One of the Lost Wonders of the World)

Constable

Tea : Addiction, Exploitation and Empire

World

Constable Robinson

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Moxham, Roy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Moxham, Roy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Moxham, Roy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Great Hedge of India

A Brief History of Tea

Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier That Divided a People

The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier that Divided a People

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire

Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire

The East India Company Wife

The Great Hedge of India (Quest for One of the Lost Wonders of the World)

Tea : Addiction, Exploitation and Empire

A Brief History of Tea