Review: The Thief at the End of the World by Joe Jackson

WAS Henry Wickham a thief? Maybe by today’s standards, but in 1876 when Joe Jackson’s flawed hero sneaked 70,000 rubber tree seeds out of Brazil and back to England, there was no law against it. Don’t let that put you off: this story of how Britain came to establish rubber plantations across its empire and so dominate the burgeoning rubber trade is both illuminating and shocking. Central to the tale is the foolhardy Wickham and his Amazonian “adventures”. For collecting the seeds that Britain wanted so much he won neither fortune nor fame. Decide for yourself if he deserves sympathy.…