Fabric of War: A Hidden History of the Global Wool Trade

The throwaway culture of textiles that many now take for granted—in which synthetics are so prominent—came into being partly as a result of manipulated shortages during wartime of the natural fibres that were, before the 1950s, the only options. Wool, in particular, was a major strategic imperative during a century of mass, cold-climate warfare.

Between the 1850s and 1950s, the global wool trade would witness pulses of great demand during a series of wars in which nations jockeyed for access to wool while simultaneously searching for its elusive replacement. This textile politics was a key factor in the rise of synthetic fibres to rival wool and other natural fibres.

This is in many ways a lost history or one seen only in parts--national or regional. New insights arise if the history of the wool industry is viewed transnationally and comprehensively, from land ownership to sheep pastoralism, to transport and marketing, to thread and textile production, and finally to the end users including various militaries and the complex politics that arise in wartime.