A Perfect Red

A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire

Author: Amy Butler Greenfield

In the sixteenth century, one of the world’s most precious commodities was cochineal, a legendary red dye treasured by the ancient Mexicans and sold in the great Aztec marketplaces, where it attracted the attention of the Spanish conquistadors. 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. As the English, French, Dutch, and other Europeans joined the chase for cochineal — a chase that lasted for more than three centuries — a tale of pirates, explorers, alchemists, scientists, and spies unfolds. A Perfect Red 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.

Amy Butler Greenfield was a history grad student when she gave into temptation and became a writer. Since then she’s become an award-winning author. Amy grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and later studied history at Williams College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oxford. She now lives with her family in England, where she writes, plots mischief, and bakes double-dark-chocolate cake. You can find her at www.amybutlergreenfield.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060522763
• ISBN-13: 978-0060522766
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches