The Fabric of Civilization

From Neanderthal string to 3D knitting, an "expansive" global history that
highlights "how textiles truly changed the world" (Wall Street Journal)

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.