Read the excerpt from "early victorian tea set.” so our tea set is really a three-piece social history of nineteenth-century britain. it is also a lens through which historians such as linda colley can look at a large part of the history of the world: it does underline how much empire, consciously or not, eventually impacts on everybody in this country. if in the nineteenth century you are sitting at a mahogany table drinking tea with sugar, you are linked to virtually every continent on the globe. you are linked with the royal navy, which is guarding the sea routes between these continents, you are linked with this great tentacular capital machinery through which the british control so many parts of the world and ransack them for commodities, including commodities that can be consumed by the ordinary civilian at home. which is the best summary of this excerpt? the tea set has always been an important part of british life. the tea set has become more valuable through the years. macgregor believes the antique tea set to be a symbol of british history. he includes a quotation from a historian to support his point. macgregor believes that the antique tea set belonged to the royal navy. he quotes a historian to prove his theory.