The blue dye indigo has been the world's most valued dyestuff for almost five millennia. This text covers in detail all aspects of this subject: historical, agricultural and botanical; chemical and technological; commercial and economic; indigo's various uses in textiles and art; and its many sociological, medicinal and folkloric connotations.

The role indigo has played elsewhere has been fairly well documented, but in the case of the Arab world, little or no thorough investigation has been previously undertaken. Sets out to provide comprehensive coverage of the subject from its earliest history to the present day.

Indigo tells the compelling and comprehensive story of the world's oldest, most magical and best-loved dye.

"Set on the edges of time, this intriguing odyssey, part biography, part memoir and part historical detective story, has a magical extra dimension. Tracking Thomas, an elusive young man of the past, the author follows him out of the British Library to the China Seas and remote islands of Polynesia, to Indias plantation lands in the days of the British Raj, and through the deserts of Arabia. Finding she is often in her own footsteps too, can she span what seems an unbridgeable gap between the known and the unknown and solve a mystery? A unique and enthralling love story."--Publisher's website