Consuming the Empire

What did British imperialism ever do for the Welsh miner, the English factory worker, or the Scots shepherd? As it happens, the empire plied them with sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, and spices, once exotic products that became ubiquitous during the long eighteenth century. Low prices, extensive systems of credit, and efficient distribution networks spread the spoils of Asia, Africa, and the Americas across “the geographic and social spectrums” of Great Britain, in the words of historian Troy Bickham.