{"product_id":"a-perfect-red-empire-espionage-and-the-quest-for-the-color-of-desire-9780060522766","title":"A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"You'll finish [Greenfield's] book with new respect for color, especially for red. With \u003cem\u003eA Perfect Red\u003c\/em\u003e, she does for it what Mark Kurlansky in\u003cem\u003e Salt\u003c\/em\u003e did for that common commodity.\"--\u003cem\u003eHouston Chronicle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInterweaving 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Perfect Red\u003c\/em\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGreenfield, Amy Butler:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eAmy 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50630301843730,"sku":"9780060522766","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_674e5b9e-12fb-4706-9577-b959b4bfb985.jpg?v=1732748904","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/a-perfect-red-empire-espionage-and-the-quest-for-the-color-of-desire-9780060522766","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}