Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Golden Thread

  • How Fabric Changed History
  • By: Kassia St Clair
  • Narrated by: Helen Johns
  • Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (124 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
The Golden Thread cover art

The Golden Thread

By: Kassia St Clair
Narrated by: Helen Johns
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Fabric of Civilization cover art
Women's Work cover art
Embroidering Her Truth cover art
Dress Codes cover art
Fibershed cover art
Once They Were Hats cover art
The Sahara: The History and Legacy of the World’s Greatest Desert cover art
Brave Companions cover art
On Juneteenth cover art
Her Hidden Genius cover art
Patch Work cover art
Vivienne Westwood cover art
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England cover art
The Great British Dream Factory cover art
Vanishing Fleece cover art
On the Map cover art

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

What listeners say about The Golden Thread

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    78
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    34
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    64
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting subject but...

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poor narration.

This is a fascinating history of fabrics, but unfortunately the narrator doesn't live up to the material. At times her voice wobbled and she sounded almost tearful. At other times it just grated. I would love to hear this read well.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!