Postrel specializes in sharp, informed commentary on broad subjects. So it’s a surprise to find very little opinion in The Fabric of Civilization. Instead, the book is, as she puts it, an 'exploration originated in wonder'. She isn’t kidding. We are taken on a journey as epic, and varying, as the Silk Road itself ... At times, Postrel loses her way — and, in turn, us. She explains the mechanics of cloth construction like a scientist, and includes diagrams, in case we don’t get it. (I still don’t understand how Jacquard’s punch cards work, even with the drawings.) She quotes wonky experts or, vaguely, 'a historian' on basic information, when she could have told us herself, less dryly. Thankfully, she does drop in witty bits on occasion to unpick the jargon...Such asides help lighten seriously unleavened sections of the book ... Postrel soars — and there are set-piece gems, to be sure — when she turns away from academia, and employs her well-honed reporter’s skills ... A truly personal take could pull more readers in and turn The Fabric of Civilization from an exercise in imparting information into something more intimate. Postrel talks about how the textile business is forever migrating, but she doesn’t look at how such migration, post-NAFTA, impacted her hometown or the surrounding region ... not a definitive work on the subject...more 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.

Each of the book’s chapters is strung on the warp fabric production. Chapter One treats fibers, like cotton, silk and wool; chapter two, thread, chapter three, cloth; wrapping up with the market and the consumer. Sometimes the author loses the thread, so to speak, as when she details the emergence of bills of discount and the origins of Lehman Brothers as underpinning the market for fabrics. Since fabrics were the biggest commercial items of trade and industry for centuries, it is not surprising to see the association with modern credit and money, but it doesn’t tell us anything new. Postrel is best at teasing out the whimsy of an archaeologist who decides to make her own Tyrian purple dye from the murex mollusk or the mathematician who reads Euclid’s Mathematica as a guide to weaving ... Each of the book’s chapters is strung on the warp fabric production. Chapter One treats fibers, like cotton, silk and wool; chapter two, thread, chapter three, cloth; wrapping up with the market and the consumer. Sometimes the author loses the thread, so to speak, as when she details the emergence of bills of discount and the origins of Lehman Brothers as underpinning the market for fabrics. Since fabrics were the biggest commercial items of trade and industry for centuries, it is not surprising to see the association with modern credit and money, but it doesn’t tell us anything new. Postrel is best at teasing out the whimsy of an archaeologist who decides to make her own Tyrian purple dye from the murex mollusk or the mathematician who reads Euclid’s Mathematica as a guide to weaving.

... fascinating and wide-ranging ... Discussions of traditional Laotian silk brocades and the chemistry behind the microfibers in an Under Armour garment, among other innovations, demystify these processes and highlight human ingenuity and artistry. There are some noteworthy gaps, however, particularly when it comes to the textile industry and labor issues. Still, this is an engrossing and illuminating portrait of the essential role fabric has played in human history.