The Golden Thread

How Fabric Changed History

By: Kassia St Clair

Narrated by: Helen Johns

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

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, man-made and natural, have changed and shaped the world we live in.

In 12 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.

©2018 Kassia St Clair (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

The Golden Thread

Helen Johns captivated me with her yarns about the history of fabric from woolen Viking sails to attempts
to weave spider silk. The stories of St. Clair’s book keep the reader engaged while revealing historical fact. I can’t think of a better way to learn about the importance of textiles to world history. Enjoy!

It is exactly it's title. Killer history of fabric

it was great. a bit dry, but I really loved it overall. definitely true to the title

favorite mispronunciation brand Nike pronounced like the name Mike. took me a second to realize what they were even talking about

how to ruin a good book with an aweful narration

This book is really good, another excellent work by Kassia St Claire but this audible version has been ruined by and aweful narration. I would like to get back time and not to buy it.

In depth history of Textiles

A very full coverage of all aspects of textiles, including their sources and usage. Most interesting and inspiring. Some facts seem to be added a touch glibly, but overall there’s no reason to doubt the authenticity of the information.
The voice of the narrator sounds to me as if it were on the point of breaking up all the time, which I found irritating at first, but managed to ignore after a while.

Wonderful!

Fantastic journey through the history of fabrics through thousands of years.
Such amazing detail and information, I will be referring back to it numerous times in the future no doubt.

A fascinating history

This is a wide ranging history of textiles and threads travelling from Egypt to China, Yorkshire to the cotton plantations of the southern USA, Antarctica to Everest, Outer space to Olympic swimming pools and much more. It is also the secret history of women and their unsung roles in the economics of empires. It is really very good.

Awful narration

The narrator’s voice is extremely grating -the quavering mess of a unconfident old woman with a bad cold.

Moreover she frequently mispronounces words and names, speaking with a huge linguistic insensitivity especially towards Chinese names and places.

The text is slow and dull - though could’ve been saved by a voice with power and confidence.

Interesting subject but...

An interesting subject that has been well researched but I couldn’t get on with the narrators voice.

Fascinating book, good reader, poor sound quality

Whoever was in charge of sound quality (publisher? Audible?) did a huge disservice to this audiobook. The book is fascinating and the reading good, so enjoyed it nonetheless, but it should really be fixed.

Important history undermined by narration

An absolutely fascinating book that tells an important history of textiles which by definition tells of the importance of often relegated women... personally I felt the narrator’s querulous female voice undermined the power of this message.

Interesting but slow

Really enjoyable, and gave me a good few bullets to slapdown naysayers, but a bit of a slog.
Worth sticking with it.

really informative and engaging

what a great book. learned so much, taking on subjects that I had no idea about such as spider silk and some places where I had more knowledge such as lace gave me more depth to me knowledge.

Brilliant!

I haven't listened to such a riveting read in a long while. Engaging, well informed and erudite, it kept me listening from start to finish. Well worth it.