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The Fabric of Civilization
- How Textiles Made the World
- Narrated by: Caroline Cole
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
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The Fabric of Civilization
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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.
What the critics say
“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
What listeners say about The Fabric of Civilization
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jamie Levine
- 2023-07-15
Fun to hear Fascinating history of thread and cloth
The book shared some details of something I thought little about before listening to it. Now I see textiles totally differently and how technology and wealth we tied to clothes bed coverings, rugs and everything else made with string. Wow worth the listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- jason petrone
- 2023-05-25
Fantastic!!!
Super interesting well read and researched can’t recommend this title enough!! Thanks to the amazing author
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Heather H.
- 2023-05-09
Fascinating and important story
Absolutely loved this book, deeply and meticulously researched by the author ….a very eloquently expressed history of mankind’s relationship with textiles
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Roberta W
- 2023-10-01
Fabrics are everywhere!
Of course fabrics are everywhere, but until this book I didn’t realize how ubiquitous they are. The history of how fabric types and designs came to be was fascinating. And could my T-shirt really charge my cell phone one day? Recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Drakar
- 2023-01-18
Fantastic
I could not believe how utterly fascinating this book and its interpretation of how fabric impacted history was.
Give it a listen, I learned alot, and I am a history buff/ student from way back. 😁
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