The Golden Thread

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

As heard on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week

A new history of ingenuity from the author of The Secret Lives of Colour.

From the mummies of Ancient Egypt; via the silken dragon robes of Imperial China and the woollen sails of Viking longboats to the Indian calicoes and chintzes that powered the Industrial Revolution (and sparked more than one war); arriving finally at the lab-blended fibres that have allowed astronauts to moonwalk -- fabrics, manmade and natural, have changed and shaped the world we live in.

In twelve fascinating chapters, Kassia St Clair lays out an alternative history of civilisation and human creativity. Wittily written and compellingly argued, this book will change the way you see the world.

(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

  • A history of fabric might not sound immediately exciting, but St Clair’s book is a refreshing treat, every page bursting with surprising insights. Clothing, she argues, is central to history, from myths and legends to trade and technology. The threads woven by the Greek Fates, the bandages that wrapped Egyptian mummies, the wool that made medieval England rich, the lace in Vermeer’s paintings : it all makes for a smart and entertaining historical tapestry

    SUNDAY TIMES, History Book of the Year
  • The history of the world through the eye of a needle… Fascinating… I recommend this book to anyone

    THE SPECTATOR
  • A charming, absorbing and quietly feminist history that takes us on a journey from the silk roads to sportswear, from ruffs to spacesuits… I devoured this book

    SUNDAY TIMES
  • Remarkable . . . hugely ambitious, sparklingly erudite and wonderfully engaging

    HISTORY TODAY
  • A joyful commingling of text and textiles in 13 beautifully wrought stories. We visit a cave where dyed fibres more than 30,000 years old have been discovered; goggle at the starched intricacy of sixteenth-century lace ruffs; flinch over astronauts’ nappies and the sodden sleeping bags of early polar expeditions; and savour the idea of materials spun from spiders’ webs.

    NATURE
  • The Golden Thread will make you rethink your relationship with fabric

    ELLE DECORATION

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.