Audiobook12 hours
A Full Cup: Sir Thomas Lipton's Extraordinary Life and His Quest for the America's Cup
Written by Michael D'Antonio
Narrated by David Drummond
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
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.
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.
Author
Michael D'Antonio
Michael D’Antonio is the author of many acclaimed books, including Atomic Harvest, Fall from Grace, Tin Cup Dreams, Mosquito, and The State Boys Rebellion. His work has also appeared in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Discover, and many other publications. Among his many awards is the Pulitzer Prize, which he shared with a team of reporters for New York Newsday.
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Reviews for A Full Cup
Rating: 4.375 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
8 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thomas J Lipton from poverty to riches and his quest for the America Cup in yacht racing. A race challenge that defined the man and his persistence, as well as his personality and nature.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5While the cover of this book alludes to Thomas Lipton's unsuccessful pursuit of the America's Cup, more than half of the narrative is devoted to how Lipton put himself in a position to make such a challenge, by way of introducing American merchandising techniques to the grocery business in the British Isles, then rationalizing the business of selling tea, and then applying his money to philanthropic enterprises that gave him access to high society in Britain. The result was that Lipton did well while doing good, becoming one of the first men famous for being famous.