Textiles have been essential to the everyday lives of all societies. Besides helping provide protection and warmth, they have fulfilled social, cultural, military, legal and symbolic functions, and have been an essential part of the economic activity of societies from ancient times. The Cambridge History of Western Textiles brings together and extends current knowledge on the production and uses of textiles, through the eyes of archaeologists, economic and social historians, historians of fashion and the history of dress, and museum curators familiar with surviving artefacts. The history of all the major textile industries, including wool, linen, silk, cotton and artificial fibres is explored. Processes and technical terms are explained carefully, while the role and impact of textiles in western economies and societies are examined. In sum, the book offers an authoritative account of three thousand years of the production and consumption of textiles in the western world.