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

When I picked this up, I did not realize how much I will take away from it. The innocuous fabric is actually shown to hold large swatches of history together!
The author’s attachment to the topic and the level of enthusiasm comes through the pages. The book can get a little heavy from time to time but is divided in a way that taking breaks helps return to the content. As the cover promises, historical and archaeological findings regarding the concept of fabric is traced all the way down to our current 3D printing reality.
The unexpected part in it all was the well-researched connections to politics and the economic implications of manufacturing/processing fabrics for public and personal use. I would not have otherwise observed so many tangible and intangible connections when it comes to the concept of fabric and what it means in the larger picture. It was fascinating, to say the least.
As I mentioned earlier, the book is a little heavy on the facts, which is to be expected given the topic being discussed. Despite that, it is an exciting read, even if I did do it in parts spread out over a couple of days.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in non-fiction which tackles a unique topic while providing historical/political information.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

P.S: It’s now available as an audiobook on NetGalley