One of the best books I've read this year. Postrel does a great job writing an engaging story that not only walks through all of the steps of textile making but also shows the technological advances that helps boost them and the impacts (cultural, economic, and technological) that the mass availability of different kids of textiles facilitated and caused. The section on how the many European textile import/export firms became some of the first banks is just one of the many interesting nuggets. And I really liked her descriptions of anthropologists' efforts to recreate ancient textile technologies (the section of Phoenician dye techniques was particularly interesting and pungent). This was a fun, engaging, and erudite book; highly recommended!

Virginia Postrel weaves the story of fabric throughout our history, from the stone age  to the industrial revolution to today. I am really interested in fashion history and anthropology, so I was intrigued to read this book! The title, book cover, and tag line are what drew me in, and I wish that I felt like it delivered on its message with full force.

The book has a voice that's easy to follow along and it makes the book more accessible to a wider audience; the audiobook narrator has clear pronunciation and emphasis, which goes well with the text.

It is less of a history lesson and more of a story, having the feel of docutaiment, which isn't something I'm personally fond of and I wouldn't recommend it for someone who wants to learn about clothing history seriously, but for someone looking to relax and not retain too much while being entertained. Facts are dropped in at all times, especially because there are many things mentioned in each chapter, rather than developing a handful. I felt like there was a lot of fat that could've been cut out that doesn't contribute much and lines that try to be witty or charming, but I again didn't feel they added even that. I think this is because I had a problem with the style the author chose.

There were also a couple of places where the author focuses on the work and praises different capitalists that contributed to the development in the textile industry, those that she clearly acknowledges were colonists and owners of enslaved peoples. One is dismissed as "giving old capitalists a bad name", which is... a statement. It makes it sound like others were much better. There are some other lines when talking about cotton from the same chapter that seemed awfully toneless, and made me uncomfortable to continue listening. Those moments of the white author, probably not even fully intentionally, inserting her political beliefs was rather baffling and silly.

The way the chapters are divided and titled (not by geographic area or time period but topic: fiber, thread, cloth, dye, innovator, consumer etc.) is different and fits the overall style of the book. I felt like some chapters were way stronger than others: the ones talking about the connection between weaving and arithmetics, as well as programming, were great, and are how I hoped the entire book would be. I also enjoyed the talk about dyeing and chemistry, textile as currency, and bits of the text about the rules of dress for different classes (I felt like it could've been analysed better, but interesting point nonetheless). Those parts were my favourite and are the ones I remember most from.

Overall, I think the message this Virginia Postrel tried to convey is an interesting one, and I believe that even the few examples I gave are good enough to showcase it, but I don't think this book achieves something great.

A global history of the textiles we’ve made and how they’ve made us.

Postrel’s history brings a fresh perspective to textiles of the past by going beyond the expected descriptions of materials and instead delves deep into large and small scale implications of the development of this product over time.


Not only is this a history of textiles, it’s an overview into the history of agriculture, our understanding of chemistry, the shaping of language, the rise of industrialization, and the influence of skilled workers on economics and gender roles through the present day. By using every tool at textile historians’ disposal— from DNA sequencing to determine when humans began domesticating cotton, sheep for wool, and other natural fibers; to studying economic records of the past; to working alongside materials scientists to work on textiles of the future. Postrel paints a fuller picture of the impact of fabric on everyday life (besides the fact that we touch and use it every day) and ties together the seemingly distant threads of what arose in the process.

Although it’s by no means an exhaustive guide to every culture’s use of fabric throughout history, The Fabric of Civilization brings together far-reaching case studies in a way that isn’t completely overwhelming to readers. Descriptions of processes, revolutionary technologies, and people who had a hand in making them are rarely, if ever, hard to wrap your brain around— even if you have little knowledge of the textile manufacturing process. Postrel goes in depth on her subject, but without feeling boring or too in the weeds (as many micro-histories tend to fall prey to).

And although this book does touch on craft, it’s not a book about craft. It is in equal parts history, science, math, and art coming together in one object that really engages your whole brain. More of a theoretical math person than an arts and crafts person, or vice versa? This book very expertly weaves very left and right-brained subject elements together to make learning about textiles as cross-disciplinary as the industry was (and still is).

My main and only issue with it is that it attributes quotes or theses to “a scientist” or “a historian.” It feels both incomplete and negates someone’s whole research by not properly attributing it to them? I assume that this could have a footnote or a citation at the end of the book, but as this is an audiobook, there’s no proper attribution at all? Which feels like a massive negative as the rest of the book is very clearly extremely well-researched and as a result, makes me somewhat question the validity of the other facts in this book that aren’t properly attributed.

Despite issues I had with some attribution and references, I still found this book truly fascinating. I was constantly in awe by the connections that this book allowed me to start to see. Postrel weaves a truly brilliant tapestry of the invisible threads that tie cultures, people, industries, technologies, and— most importantly— fabric together.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

I absolutely adored listening to this audiobook while doing dishes, cleaning the house, and sewing woven fabrics. This isn’t a book I’d normally read by the author’s words and narrator’s voice kept me hooked the whole way through. Loved how diverse each chapter was starting with the earliest case all the way to cutting edge research that was surprising and pleasing. Perfect book to listen to to grow your knowledge.

This is such a superb read. How cotton was introduced in the world to different materials used in the textile industry and how the development and creating hybrids and different techniques used from history to geography and scientific aspects are covered about the humankind and how they evolved with this industry. I really loved the concept of math used for patterns explained and how the banking system was introduced, the innovations in textile, how a project that gave other results helped in the dying industry and how colonization and everything are interlinked.

This is a book on how human civilization and the clothing industry developed together and how the innovation made changes and improved the way of understanding and quality of the clothing.

The narration was so good. The author has researched a lot and made a great effort to make this book on fabrics and civilizations. Each chapter was on each thing related to the clothing industry from fabrics, dying, innovation, ...

I got a lot of information about the clothing industry and many more things.

This was so informative! And the narrator did such a wonderful job of conveying the thoughts and research of the author. I will definitely be picking up a physical copy of this book when it becomes available, as well as stocking copies in the store.

I loved this -- such a unique perspective into history.


Review copy provided by publisher.

(short reviews are my style)