"The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World" by Virginia Postrel

 

Publisher: Basic Books

Copyright: 2020

ISBN: 97815416117605

This book is without a doubt absolutely fascinating, it takes you on a guided tour through history of how textiles of all kinds were discovered, and developed. 

The first three chapters look at how fibres were developed, how the spinning industry made these into threads, then goes on to how cloth was made and how it developed throughout history.

After we humans had cloth Ms. Postrel goes on to examine the process of dyeing and the methods that were used historically, and then right up to modern day. She then moves on to looking at trading and how that affected the world over. This is a topic which is frequently and unfortunately glossed over in school as they typically mention only "The Silk Road", but trade was widespread throughout the world, and it is a shame that students aren't taught this type of thing, as maybe then they would have more of an appreciation of how the world works.

After trade her next focus is on consumers and how they see fabrics, how they guide the industry and influence changes in the market (and vice versa as well).

The last chapter deals with the innovators that are currently developing new and what I consider to be amazing fabrics. Such as ones that will allow sweat to easily evaporate from your skin thereby keeping your cool, but will also protect you from UV radiation. New fabrics, and new techniques that will result in a revolution in the fashion industry and the environment (for the better, I'm glad to note) when some of these hit the market.

An excellent book, highly recommended.