“The Roman army, for instance, was a mass consumer of textiles… Building a fleet required long term planning as woven sails required large amounts of raw material and time to produce. The raw materials needed to be bred, pastured, shorn or grown, harvested, and processed before they reached the spinners.” (From The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel)

Fabric has existed long before pottery or looms were invented. Fibers were extracted from plants and animals and were spun to make thread which was then used to make fabric. This process existed long before fabric started to be sold for money. In the current era where it’s normal to have many clothes, not many people give a thought to how much time and labor, as well as what materials and techniques, were required to create them. This is a fascinating book that dives into civilization’s great invention of fabric through a wide lens, the chapters each covering a topic of Fiber, Thread, Cloth, Dye, Traders, Consumers, and Innovators.

The Fabric of Civilization – Virginia Postrel 
Translated into Japanese by Rieko Wagoner and published by Seidosha