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.

Product Description: "This is a necessary book for anyone who has read Tristan Jones's stories with enjoyment or suspicion, or both." --Derek Lundy, author of Godforsaken Sea "I was enchanted from start to finish by Anthony Dalton's biography." --John Rousmaniere, author of After the Storm Tristan Jones boasted a worldwide following for his memoirs of extraordinary adventures from the Arctic to the Dead Sea...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

A portrait of nineteenth-century sailor Jack Renton describes his sojourn among the head-hunters of Malaita, detailing how he went from slave to trusted advisor, his assimilation into the tribe, his efforts to prepare the people he grew to love for the influx of Western civilization, and his eventual 1876 rescue.