A Perfect Red
Subtitle: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: April 26, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 352
ISBN-13: 9780060522759
Subjects: Science/Mathematics; Textile Fabrics; History - General History; History (Specific Aspects); Textiles & Polymers; Technology; Fiction; Techniques - Color; Mexico; World - General; History / General; Europe; Textile fibers; Cochineal; Dyes and dyeing; History
First sentence: FORTY MILES WEST OF FLORENCE, IN A fertile Tuscan valley not far from the Mediterranean Sea, lies the serene and sunlit city of Lucca. Known throughout the region for its trade in olive oil, flour, and wine, modern-day Lucca is not much more than a provincial market town, but its great piazzas, Romanesque churches, and medieval towers bear mute witness to a more illustrious past.