{"product_id":"the-fabric-of-civilization-how-textiles-made-the-world","title":"The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World","description":"\u003cp\u003eA 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 (The New York Times)  The story of humanity is the story of textilesas 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  Michelangelos 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 worlds most influential commodity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983668047925,"sku":"ByrdShop_1541617606","price":84.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781541617605.jpg?v=1770805500","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-fabric-of-civilization-how-textiles-made-the-world","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}