A Perfect Red – Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire

By Amy Butler Greenfield
Harper Collins Publishers, 2005

The desire for a rich red permanent dye and pigment was a major factor in exploring and establishing global trade routes in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Early Spanish explorers found that the Aztecs, in what is now Mexico, had the perfect red that had not been seen elsewhere up to that time. The cochineal dye came from the dried bodies of a female scale insect, Dactylopius coccus, which was parasitic on the Opunta prickly pear cacti. At that time the insects came from just one particular valley. The insects and cacti were grown on cacti farms or nopalry for the sole purpose of harvesting the insects for the dye.

Greenfield relays the fascinating account of the cochineal dye’s discovery by the Spanish and their attempt to capture and maintain the sale and distribution of it. She not only describes the origin of the dye and its history throughout the centuries, but she also describes its impact on fashion up to the present day.

Greenfield researched the history of the cochineal dye in great detail, so the book is very well documented. Her writing style is excellent, which makes this book a pleasurable read for anyone interested in the history and impact of this natural dye.