Kindle
$12.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$37.55
Paperback
$14.53
Buy new:
$14.53
List Price: $17.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Save: $3.46 (19%)
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Friday, May 3 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 21 mins
In Stock
$$14.53 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$14.53
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon.com
Ships from
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Sold by
Amazon.com
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Virginia I. Postrel
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Fabric of Civilization Paperback – December 7, 2021

by Virginia Postrel (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 792 ratings
#1 Best Seller in Polymers & Textiles
See all formats and editions
Great on Kindle
Great Experience. Great Value.
iphone with kindle app
Putting our best book forward
Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital – start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.
Get the free Kindle app: Link to the kindle app page Link to the kindle app page
Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.
View Kindle Edition
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.53","priceAmount":14.53,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"53","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"QqDH1Yq2vSwy%2BdjRPavG3z1aGDhpWgwg%2B3AJsg6WrtLCHrfdexMwuuSQAPicXwKXMCiYwY1EcGe2SHjY%2BkK1xMt2D6VCgPE%2B4dqNsFEsywxZy6h1Knb1rlWe4vCUFA7wsKe8aCd%2BbkExPmPJ6yBDhA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

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.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    December 7, 2021
  4. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1541617622
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1541617629
  7. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Frequently bought together

Fabric of Civilization
$14.53
Get it as soon as Friday, May 3
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History
$17.94
Get it as soon as Friday, May 3
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle
$14.76
Get it as soon as Friday, May 3
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Choose items to buy together.
Popular Highlights in this book
What are popular highlights?
Previous page
  1. Second, civilization is a survival technology. It comprises the many artifacts—designed or evolved, tangible or intangible—that stand between vulnerable human beings and natural threats, and that invest the world with meaning.
    Highlighted by 150 Kindle readers
  2. First, civilization is cumulative. It exists in time, with today’s version built on previous ones. A civilization ceases to exist when that continuity is broken.
    Highlighted by 141 Kindle readers
Next page

From the Publisher

quote

quote

quote

Editorial Reviews

Review

“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

"My pick as best nonfiction book of the year...[Virginia Postrel] offers a bold retelling of history through an emphasis on cloth—cloth as decoration, cloth as currency, cloth as ritual and much more. One of the most extraordinary volumes I have read in years."―Stephen Carter, Bloomberg Opinion

“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

“The Fabric of Civilization is a fascinating book, and persuasive too: by the end the case is made that ‘textiles made the world.’”―Times (UK)

"Fascinating and wide-ranging...This is an engrossing and illuminating portrait of the essential role fabric has played in human history."―Publishers Weekly

"From the Stone Age to Silicon Valley, textiles have played a central role in the history of the world. Virginia Postrel has an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject but she imparts it with a touch as light as Penelope's at the loom. Ambitious, erudite, and absorbing, The Fabric of Civilization is both an education and a pleasure to read."―Barry Strauss, author of Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine

"Virginia Postrel has created a fascinating history of textiles from their Palaeolithic beginnings to the present and future―from the earliest plant fibers plucked from weeds to synthetic fabrics with computer chips in the threads. And why, you say, should we examine mere cloth? Precisely because it fills more and more roles in our lives, yet we take it for granted...Well researched and highly readable, the book is a veritable treat."―Elizabeth Wayland Barber, author of Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times and Prehistoric Textiles

"A fascinating, surprising and beautifully written history of technology, economics, and culture, told through the thread of textiles, humanity's most indispensable artefacts. I loved it."―Matt Ridley, author of How Innovation Works

"The story of technology is a story of human ingenuity, and nowhere is this more clear than in the story of textiles: the original technology, going beyond what we commonly think of as 'tech.' As with many technologies, we suffer an amnesia about them when we enjoy them in abundance, as Postrel observes; her book gives us back our memories about this technology that we use every day without even knowing it."―Marc Andreessen, co-founder, Netscape

"Cleanly written and completely accessible, this book opens up an entirely new world of textiles, explaining the most ancient archeological fabrics and the latest polymer blends that cool the body―not warm it as textiles have done for thousands of years―with equal verve."―Valerie Hansen, author of The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World--and Globalization Began

"Postrel's brilliant, learned, addictive book tells a story of human ingenuity...Her deep story is of the liberty that permitted progress. Presently the descendants of slaves and serfs and textile workers got closets full of beauty, and fabric for the cold, a Great Enrichment since 1800 of three thousand percent."―Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, author of the Bourgeois Era trilogy

"Virginia Postrel captures the ingenuity with which people around the globe solved the problems of raising fiber, spinning thread, making cloth, and giving it beautiful colors. This book opens the reader's eyes not only to the textiles that daily surround us but also to the remarkable skills of their makers."―Jenny Balfour-Paul, author of Indigo

"The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World is one of the most compelling books I've ever read on the history of textiles―witty, well-researched, and full of fascinating things I'd never known despite being quite well-read on textile technology. (Did you know that letters of credit from clothiers helped build the early European banking system? Or that aniline dyes were one of the earliest applications of organic chemistry?) If you thought Elizabeth Wayland Barber's Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years was interesting, you'll swoon over this book. I loved it."―Tien Chiu, weaver, teacher, and author of Master Your Craft

"The Fabric of Civilization is more engaging and informative than any textile science or textile history course that I studied in college. Postrel has distilled thousands of years of the making and manipulation of string (thread) into a comprehensible read whether or not you have knowledge of its invention or the current bio-engineering research. She has woven in personal experiences; interviewed historians, computer programmers, scientists, textile archeologists, and contemporary and indigenous artisans; and gone behind the scenes in textile laboratories and manufacturing plants. After reading this book, I felt like I had wandered the world for centuries using fabric for my currency and wealth. I had won political battles in its name. I had been sickened as well as healed by it. And now I am an inventor synthesizing environmentally healthy fabric by means of chemicals. My appreciation and knowledge of how textiles make the world have been greatly enhanced."―Marilyn Murphy, co-founder ClothRoads and former president of Interweave

"Fiber artists of any stripe, prepare for a juicy read through a new book on textile history! Virginia Postrel's new book will turn your old ideas about fabric and civilization down unexpected pathways. The Fabric of Civilization is divided into chapters loosely related to individual textile processes, such as spinning, weaving, and dyeing, and the author points out that textiles are the basis of our number systems, our banking, our commerce, and our science. This book is full of stories of individuals who innovated entire systems because of their sensitivity to textile processes. The author actually learned to spin and weave while writing this book, and her explanations and diagrams are spot on. Profusely illustrated with photos and diagrams, and contains a comprehensive bibliography. Highly recommended."―Alice Schlein, weaver, author of Network Drafting and The Woven Pixel

"The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World chronicles the laborious and cumulative innovations that allow cloth to play an essential role in our comfort, cultural identity, and our dependence on programmable functions. At times, the fabric of society appears threadbare but, based on the global nature of textiles, it is comforting to know that all cultures have a shared experience. Postrel reminds us that we are all woven together with colorful threads."―Susie Taylor, artist

About the Author

Virginia Postrel is an award-winning journalist and independent scholar. She is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and has been a columnist for the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. She is the author of the highly acclaimed The Substance of Style and The Power of Glamour. Her research is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (December 7, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1541617622
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1541617629
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 792 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Virginia I. Postrel

Virginia I. Postrel

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Virginia Postrel a Los Angeles-based author, columnist, and speaker whose work spans a broad range of topics, from social science to fashion, concentrating on the intersection of culture and commerce.

Writing in Vanity Fair, Sam Tanenhaus described her as "a master D.J. who sequences the latest riffs from the hard sciences, the social sciences, business, and technology, to name only a few sources."

Postrel is the author most recently of The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, published by Basic Books. Her previous books are The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion (2013), The Substance of Style (2003), and The Future and Its Enemies (1998).

She is a regular columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.

To learn more about her and read a large archive of her articles and blog posts, visit vpostrel.com.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
792 global ratings
Covered in melted soap?!
2 Stars
Covered in melted soap?!
Got this book as a gift to give for Christmas for our brothers GF and it arrived on time but covered in a heavily scented wax or soap cakes all over in book as shown in the picture. Nothing in my order contained a waxy lavender scented item so the book must of had this on it when they packaged it. It smells so strongly and had this stuff in gobs all over it so pretty obvious. Really disappointing as this is a gift.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

White Rabbit Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating!
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024
Verified Purchase
Who knew fabric had such a history. Fascinating story! I loved this book. Seriously, who knew!
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Walter Cuje
5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant surprise. Learned something new on every page.
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2021
Verified Purchase
Expecting an overview of a narrow, “niche” topic, I was quite surprised at the vast significance of fabric to the history of mankind. Textiles are so woven (no pun) into everyday existence, that it is easily overlooked for the fundamentally important technology that it is, and which by the way, pre-dates agriculture. Prehistoric string, rope, twine, netting, baggage, clothing, etc. Not only precede the stone age (which required such in order to craft stone age tools), but are so ubiquitous as to be overlooked in their historical importance in the evolution of human trade and technology – until this book. I literally learned something new on every page. For example, the first “wheel” invented by man was a spindle for weaving, rather than a load-bearing item. Our very language teams with phraseology derived from the process of weaving. There are nuggets on the processes and technology of fabric, various techniques of production, sources, (cotton, silk, flax, synthetics), dying and coloring, trade, and recent innovations. The book is well written, moves along at a comfortable pace (erudite but not at all pedantic), is richly illustrated and includes extensive biographical notes. Very happy to have added this layer of historical and technical understanding…a perfect gift for the armchair scholar.
17 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
MechEng
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
An enjoyable book, well organized, interesting, and easy to read. I learned how textiles are much more impactful on the course of civilization that I would have thought.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Tom
4.0 out of 5 stars Includes a lot of technical detail and history
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2020
Verified Purchase
Even with several advanced degrees, this is complex. As the author suggests, unless you weave, you will not be able to understand many of the details about the techniques described. Similarly, advanced chemistry is helpful. A friend with a PHD in agronomy provided the attitude needed to fully appreciate the ideas about plant research. An MBA is useful for understanding the financial discussions. Nevertheless, the book is a wonderful collection of information, ideas, and history which I've never seen before. The only link that was missing is mention of the spice trade which is usually mentioned as one of the prime ingredients of trade over the last several thousand years.
40 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
B Daniel Blatt
5.0 out of 5 stars An antidote to textile Amnesia
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
This was not the book I expected, but I loved it all the same. I had wondered how it was that textiles evolved--how we went from creatures covering--and adorning--our bodies with animal skins to beings who wove our garments from growing things.

Instead, I was treated to a carefully-constructed argument, meticulously researched across human history and with references to a great variety of cultures, about how our ancestors--and even now our peers--attempts to improve those fabrics that adorn us influenced other technologies and so advanced civilization.

Postrel starts with the various components of converting plant fiber into human clothing: carding and spinning, weaving, and dyeing, and then finally to commerce and innovation. The stuff can get technical at times--during the writing, she set up a loom in her office so as to experience the process of weaving--but it all serves her argument.

It was a process of millennia to improve from the time-consuming process of the first woven garments to the abundance of clothing cluttering our closets today. "We suffer," Postrel observes in her Afterword, "textile amnesia because we enjoy textile abundance."

Indeed.

When I was moving last month from an apartment to a house and sorting through my closet, taking the unneeded garments to Goodwill where I saw a superabundance of donations. And that just on one day. At one location. In one city.

In this the first book to arrive at my new house, I reflected back on what I saw and wondered how many hours of labor it would have taken to craft those garments at different stages in human history.

Textile technology has evolved since humans first realized they could spin fibers from growing things into clothing. In this book, Virginia Postrel tells that story. Well worth your time.
69 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Manuel F.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great buy
Reviewed in Mexico on February 25, 2024
Verified Purchase
Great book.
Report
garret seinen
5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent tapestry of words.
Reviewed in Canada on May 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
The author takes us on a fascinating journey that runs from sheep to sweaters. She documents how many human-labour-saving devices have played a part in making humans comfortable. She shows how much human drudgery we have indifferently buried in forgotten history. A mind opener on cloth.
Report
The Flying Hedgehog
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting subject.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2024
Verified Purchase
This was bought as a present for an art and textile student. Well received with favourable feedback.
Report
José Macaya
3.0 out of 5 stars Leer el Capítulo 5. Lo demás para quien le interese técnicamente el textil
Reviewed in Spain on February 26, 2022
Verified Purchase
Yo esperaba que el libro iba a explicar cómo los textiles a lo largo de la historia, han ido transformando el mundo, y no solo la evolución de la industria textil. Sin embargo, especialmente en los primeros cuatro capítulos, lo que se explica son los descubrimientos habidos en la industria, lo que para mí resultaba menos interesante.

El capítulo 5, sin embargo, es tremendamente interesante, y para mí ese solo justifica la lectura del libro. En ese capítulo si se explica cómo influyó la industria en otros campos. Para satisfacer las necesidades del sector se inventó el correo y la banca. Los textileros fueron los primeros en Europa en establecer líneas de correo regular. También inventaron las letras de cambio y otros instrumentos financieros que dieron lugar a la banca. También el capítulo 7 es interesante, explicando las innovaciones en el textil usando nuevas tecnologías.

El libro está bien escrito y es fácil de seguir, aunque para mí, con excepción de los capítulos 5 y 7, ha sido de interés relativo. Creo que es para lectores conocedores o interesados en la industria textil.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Patrick O'Neill
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and entertaining reading experience
Reviewed in Australia on January 26, 2023
Verified Purchase
Ok
Report