A Full Cup, Michael DAntonio
A Full Cup, Michael DAntonio
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A Full Cup
Sir Thomas Lipton's Extraordinary Life and His Quest for the America's Cup

Author: Michael D'Antonio

Narrator: David Drummond

Unabridged: 12 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/12/2010


Synopsis

Today Lipton means tea. However, in his time Sir Thomas Lipton was known for much more. Raised in desperate poverty, he became rich beyond his wildest dreams. he built a global empire of markets, factories, plantations, and stockyards. And his colorful pursuit of the America's Cup trophy made him a beloved figure on both sides of the Atlantic.

In A Full Cup, Michael D'Antonio tells the tale of this larger-than-life figure. Beginning with a journey across the United States just after the Civil War, Thomas J. Lipton developed the ambition and learned the business techniques that helped him create the first chain of grocery stores. Wealthy before age thirty, he set his sights on the tea trade, and soon his name became synonymous with the product. Lipton's great business success makes for a compelling story of innovation and achievement. Moreover, though, Lipton's most intriguing creation was a public persona—one of the first formed with the help of a modern mass media—that appealed to millions of ordinary people, as well as the elites in America and Europe. Concocting simple stunts like elephant parades, Lipton mastered the new art of obtaining free publicity. With shameless self-promotion, he became one of the world's most eligible bachelors and a patron of the poor, and he ultimately reached legendary heights when he revived the competition for the America's Cup. With one losing attempt after another, the gallant Lipton, who didn't even know how to sail his own yacht, became ever more popular. D'Antonio's biography brings to vivid life this remarkable figure.

About Michael D'Antonio

As part of a team of journalists from Newsday, Michael D'Antonio won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting before going on to write many acclaimed books, including Atomic Harvest and The State Boys Rebellion. He has also written for Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, and Sports Illustrated.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Robin on May 14, 2021

Even though Lipton tea was the first food I ever prepared myself as a kid, I was prepared to dislike Thomas Lipton. As a tea connoisseur (that is to say snob), I felt far beyond the Lipton blend of my childhood. Plus, Victorian entrepreneurs were notorious for abusing laborers with long hours and un......more

Goodreads review by Patrick on November 14, 2016

Great story of rags to riches via hard work and great ideas. Recommended read!......more

Goodreads review by Deb on February 14, 2024

This is the story of a remarkable man, Thomas Lipton. The author tells us about his life in a way that makes you admire him as much as the people on both sides of the Atlantic did. A confident man who understood what it took to start and grow a successful business and who became a self-made milliona......more

Goodreads review by Bev on March 29, 2023

Only 3 stars because the author kept deviating from the subject and repeated himself and had too much ‘fluff’ in it. Sir Thomas Lipton was an interesting and lovable person. He was giving and ran a business in Scotland and England and the states that brought him out of poverty and was beneficial to......more

Goodreads review by Anne on November 19, 2024

Read this a chapter a week with a tea group and found Thomas Lipton fascinating. His business and marketing sense was incredible and reading about his eccentric pastimes was fun. Well connected in both the UK and the US made him a beloved character. Thus when he mounted a challenge for the America's......more