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The Fabric of Civilization

How Textiles Made the World

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The Fabric of Civilization

By: Virginia I. Postrel
Narrated by: Caroline Cole
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About this listen

From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, explore the global history of textiles and the world they weave together in this enthralling and educational guide.

The story of humanity is the story of textiles - as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture.

In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo's David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code.

Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world's most influential commodity.

©2021 Virginia I. Postrel (P)2021 Spotify Audiobooks Civilisation Europe History History & Culture World Ancient History Western Europe Technology Middle East Business

Critic Reviews

“We are taken on a journey as epic, and varying, as the Silk Road itself… [The Fabric of Civilization is] like a swatch of a Florentine Renaissance brocade: carefully woven, the technique precise, the colors a mix of shade and shine and an accurate representation of the whole cloth.”―New York Times

“Expansive… The author is excellent at highlighting how textiles truly changed the world.”―Wall Street Journal

“Textile-making hasn’t gotten enough credit for its own sophistication, and for all the ways it undergirds human technological innovation—an error Virginia Postrel’s erudite and complete book goes a long way toward correcting at last.”―Wired
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Ok ,this was my 3rd book, in pretty much a row ,about fabric,and I enjoyed it as much as the last 2 ,there’s still so much more to learn .There was a couple of references to America that meant nothing to me ,but that’s ok .I would recommend this to anyone interested in history and economics .

Great Audio book to listen to while you sew

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This is an incredibly well researched and written book. I work in this field, and yet heard so many new paths of thought on textile history I have not heard explored before.
It is a weighty read/listen, and I digested it in chunks over the space of about a month.
I liked the narrator, but sometimes found myself nodding off to her voice, it was so relaxing, and would have to go back and re-listen. I enjoyed this though.

Amazing History, very original and informative

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Is this author in her first chapter ‘Cotton’ actually defending/excusing slavery on the basis of a better type of cotton???? It sounds like it to me: quote ‘ slavery is inhuman but the south produced a better type of cotton.

Very poor and terribly insensitive.

Not recommended

Apologist

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