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

By Niv Robin

"You'll finish Greenfield's] book with new respect for color, especially for red. With A Perfect Red, she does for it what Mark Kurlansky in Salt did for that common commodity."--Houston Chronicle

Interweaving 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.

A Perfect Red 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060522755
• ISBN13: 9780060522759
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.1" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

Red makes the world go round

This book, "A Perfect Red" by Amy Butler Greenfield, takes us to many secure worlds while showing us the economic and psychological histories of the color red. Much more than the color red, she shows how these economies created wars and alliances. She also covers commerce and the distribution of plants and animals as it is seen from the color red. The focus is not as narrow as it sounds, and much of this can be applied to...

Red makes the world go round

This book, "A Perfect Red" by Amy Butler Greenfield, takes us to many of secure worlds while showing us the economic and psychological histories of the color red. Much more than the color red, she shows how these economies created wars and alliances. She also covers commerce and the distribution of plants and animals as it is seen from the color red. The focus is not as narrow as it sounds and much of this can be applied to...

Superior History

Mrs. Greenfield (seems like she should be a Redfield) has written a wonderful example of how popular history should be written. She has an eye for the telling detail yet gets the big picture, and skillfully weaves the anecdotal with the grand. Her exposition of the importance that textiles, and by association, coloring dyes influenced post-Renaissance Europeans in their quest for wealth is a must-read for anyone interested...

Scintillating for any history-, color-, or art-buff.

Amy B. Greenfield spoke at my local bookstore as this book was debuting, and boy is she, and her book, fabulous. She brought a jar of dried cochineal beetles to show everyone, as well as a half-dozen silk scarves she herself had dyed with cochineal. The four years of research she invested in this bewitching story are evident not only in the accuracy and thoroughness of her book, but in the riveting writing itself. She is...

Perfect Red: a perfect read

This book is both informative and entertaining, it reads like a novel and if you want more information, the notes, which are hidden on the last pages, give access to a thorough academic research. But this is not ONLY and academic book. Cochineal is present even in the irresistible red of Campari and has been used by Renaissance masters and Mexican artisans since time immemorial to this very day. Highly recommended.