Professor David Olusoga: The Global History of the British Cup of Tea

There is nothing more British than a cup of tea. 

Tea is our national drink and our national obsession. Yet the history of tea is the ultimate global story. It links over 350 years of British history to the histories of China, India, the Caribbean, and the United States. It encompasses the Boston Tea Party, the Opium Wars, and the history of the British East India Company. It is a story that involves industrial espionage and a vast forgotten migration within India, and the creation in Britain of a whole new world of domestic traditions and even new consumer household goods.

In this brand-new talk for 2027, David Olusoga uses art and photography, history and humour to uncover the strange and unexpected history of our national drink, adding this subject to his previous ever-popular Missing History talks.

David has become a household name over the years, most recently interviewing President Barack Obama and reaching the finals of the BBC hit TV series Celebrity Traitors. David has been back on BBC 2 with his brand-new series of Empire, with a new series of A House Through Time scheduled for Spring 2026.

David is the author/co-author of eight books, including Black & British: A Forgotten History, awarded both the Longman-History Today Trustees Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.

A Q&A plus book signing will follow the presentation, offering a chance to meet one of the UK’s foremost public historians. Books will be available to purchase at the event.