The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World

Istoriya chelovechestva - eto istoriya tekstilya, rovesnika samoy tsivilizatsii. S teh por kak byla spryadena pervaya nit, nasha neutolimaya potrebnost v tkanyah dvigala vpered tehnologiyu, ekonomiku, politiku i kulturu. Virdzhiniya Postrel raskryvaet pered nami etot porazitelnyy syuzhet, svodya voedino dannye noveyshih issledovaniy v oblasti arheologii, ekonomicheskoy istorii i estestvennyh nauk. Ot minoytsev, eksportirovavshih v Egipet sherst, okrashennuyu dragotsennym purpurom, do rimlyan, odetyh v dorogoy kitayskiy shelk, torgovlya tkanyami prokladyvala transkontinentalnye magistrali Drevnego mira. Bez dohodov ot tekstilya byli by nevozmozhny ni Renessans, ni imperiya Velikih Mogolov; tolko blagodarya emu my poluchili banki i buhgalteriyu, «Davida» Mikelandzhelo i Tadzh-Mahal. Vmeste s tkanyami po miru rasprostranyalis alfavit i arifmetika, a pozdnee tekstilnaya promyshlennost stimulirovala vazhneyshie himicheskie otkrytiya i nauchila lyudey polzovatsya dvoichnym kodom. Kniga «Nit istorii» - polnyy porazitelnyh detaley rasskaz o samom vliyatelnom tovare v istorii chelovechestva.