us vs uk: The True History of Tea
October 26th, 2009 | Published in books, culture, design, publishing | 8 Comments
I’ve been inspired to try out a new kind of post. It may or may not be a regular thing, but I’m interested in comparing US and UK covers of the same book. I’m especially curious to see if there’s an overall pattern, but that will take some time to decide (and it won’t be scientific). The inspiration comes from Pop Culture Junkie’s Hardcover vs. Paperback series and Wondrous Reads’ US Vs UK feature. Normally I’d be loathe to do something other bloggers are already doing, but I’m pretty sure we won’t be covering the same books, not to mention I’ll likely only include books I’ve read or own. Which brings us to our first book…
US
UK
As mentioned previously, I picked up The True History of Tea by Victor H. Mair & Erling Hoh (Thames & Hudson) at the Frankfurt Book Fair. From the publisher:
World-renowned China specialist Victor H. Mair teams up with Erling Hoh to tell the story of tea and its uses from ancient times to the present, from East to West. Ancient Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Persian and Arabic annals have been thoroughly consulted and the result takes the reader from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the fabled tea and horse trade of Central Asia, from Britain’s love affair with tea to the ‘tea party’ that sparked the American Revolution.
When trying to find a link for that prior post, I came across the US version. I’m 95% certain I wouldn’t have purchased the book if it had the US cover. So now you know which one I prefer. You?
October 26th, 2009at 8:36 am(#)
I agree. I enjoy this kind of post — keep it up.
October 26th, 2009at 8:57 pm(#)
I actually like the UK cover better! I don’t know why…
October 27th, 2009at 2:34 am(#)
prefer the UK cover better too.
October 28th, 2009at 8:03 am(#)
Just based on the covers, I’d think the US version is a fiction (as in the Ukrainian tractors book) and UK version a non-fiction. Superficial, I know
PS Any chance I could borrow the book one day? I’d love to read it..
October 28th, 2009at 8:35 am(#)
Hey, we’re judging covers so it’s all superficial! I’d be happy to lend it you. In fact, it isn’t even close to the top of my reading pile, so I’ll bring it tomorrow…
October 29th, 2009at 10:22 am(#)
I feel more drawn in by the UK cover because it better suggests that the book will cover the social history of people in relation to tea…colonialism, class dynamics,etc. I can see how the publishers would have thought the UK cover was too “British” for an American audience…maybe they worried it would seem too narrowly focused or something. I am someone who enjoyed 2/3’s of a book about the history of salt before drifting off into something else. I just didn’t dare suggest this book to the book club I was in when it was my turn to pick…maybe if it had had a truly great cover.
November 5th, 2009at 7:53 am(#)
I completely agree! I did carefully read the description to be sure it wasn’t ONLY about English tea (which would still be interesting, but not quite as interesting as a “complete” history). To me, the US cover caters almost too much to American readers. Don’t most Americans think tea is boring? And that’s exactly what the US cover says to me.
Do you mean Salt by Mark Kurlansky? I have it but still haven’t read it. I just checked to see if there are different US/UK covers, and there are! Thanks for helping me find covers for my next us vs uk post!
November 16th, 2009at 7:03 pm(#)
I prefer the US cover.