The Fabric of Civilization

How Textiles Made the World

By: Virginia I. Postrel

Narrated by: Caroline Cole

Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

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

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

Wonderfully enlightening

This book provides a riveting history of textiles that one would never have imagined.
The thread of its narrative gives insights into mankind. It’s obvious the author was inspired by the subject matter

Eye-opening re research of future fabrics

Enjoyed the story very much. Quite annoyed that narrator mispronounced treadle and towns of Waltham and Natick Massachusetts, maybe others that I don't recall or didn't know better.

FANTASTIC HISTORY BOOK

LOVED IT!!!!!! GREAT NARRATOR!!! I WILL NEVER TAKE FABRIC FOR GRANTED. AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A PIECE OF STRING.

Remarkably interesting

In my wildest imagination I would never have thought this would be so completely fascinating.

A wonderful read

This has been a wonderful read! As a mathematician, I especially enjoyed all of the mathematical parts, most of all I wasn't aware of. The book only lost me with all of the descriptions of machines which were hard to image for someone outside of the field and, to a non-chemist like me, very detailed chemistry explanations. Which is not a detriment of the book, but it did make me glaze over significant parts of the book.

Also, the narrator, Caroline Cole, was absolutely lovely to listen to, and I would gladly pick up other books narrated by her.

My favorite quote from the book was:
"In more than a decade of classes, Vogelsang-Eastwood says, only two students have solved the puzzle. One was a weaver who already knew the answer, and the other was an engineer. The ancients who invented the warpraising loops, known as heddles, were “geniuses,” she pronounces."

How textiles helped me to grow up.

i was intrigued by the title but upon reading the unfolding narrative I grew beleaguered with details and lack of pictures. Then went to Amazon/Kindle for copy with some illustrations. Audible version still was useful. Sadly a lack of colorful illustrations disqualified the hard copy from covering my coffee table.
This book reminds me of fabrics role in my youth. Dressing up for school.Decking out for the Easter Parade. Keeping up with the latest fashion crazes with peers. The trips to small and big stores for ties, suits and developing personal tastes. Also important were the curtains I helped my mother stretch and hang and later peered through. The book reminded me of my deceased and fashionable sister who sewed her clothes, loaded her closets with fashion statements and providing many squabbles with her sisters borrowing from her stash. That same sister gifted me with fashionable men's clothing.
But eventually I realized how quickly fashion changed and squandered money, often winding up in the "rag bin" or thrift stores.
Thus escaping the hunger for fashion and developed passions for investing hard earned money, education, literacy, art hobbies antiques and beautiful gardens and wife.
So I must credit one fashionable sister for artistic tastes but give myself credit for the once fashionable that in time "grew" in value.
Thus my broad interests in the technical aspects of fabrics is well rewarded by perusing both audible and printed book versions.
Thank the author for reminding me how fashion helped weaved my life.

Excellently woven story;-)

Just another example of the many things we take for granted in our modern society of convenience. Everyone should read this book, to better understand the many blessings that technology and science have bestowed upon us.

Fascinating exploration of overlooked history

This wonderful exploration of the history of textiles from the earliest days of humanity to the present day emphasizes the ubiquity and necessity of fiber and fabric to everyone. Not only are they key for protection and utility, but as a means for technology as a whole to develop, over and over. For a long time, historians and archaeologists overlooked this everyday technology, which is easy enough to do as many of the surviving tools are not immediately obvious and textiles themselves are not well preserved in many environments. This book rectifies some of this oversight, and is both thorough and easy to comprehend.

The narration is excellent in terms of both clarity and actual voice. The narrator sounds involved with the material, which in turn makes it easier to follow. Faced with a multitude of languages and technical terms, her pronunciation is clear and comprehensible.

Best Book of the Year

I had no interest in textiles prior to reading this book, but it completely changed the way I think about history and, surprisingly, made me excited about the future of fabrics.

Exceeds expectations

I am totally blown away by the history and knowledge this author was able to pull together. I'm ordering a print version as well. It's definitely worth a re-read.