Professor David Olusoga

A talk by the historian David Olusoga on the global story of the British cup of tea, with a question-and-answer session and a book signing, held at Lichfield Cathedral.

Professor David Olusoga gives this talk, a new one for 2026, on how the cup of tea connects British life with the wider world. Using art, photography, history and humour, it follows a drink that ties more than 350 years of British history to China, India, the Caribbean and the United States. The talk adds this subject to the Missing History talks Professor Olusoga has given before.

Its subjects include the Boston Tea Party, the Opium Wars and the British East India Company, as well as industrial espionage, a large forgotten migration within India, and the domestic traditions and household goods that developed in Britain. A question-and-answer session and a book signing form part of the event.

David Olusoga is a BAFTA-winning producer, author, historian and presenter, who has interviewed Barack Obama and reached the final of the BBC series Celebrity Traitors. Among the books written or co-written are Black & British: A Forgotten History, and the television work includes Empire and A House Through Time. The talk suits anyone curious about British history, and it takes place at Lichfield Cathedral in Lichfield.