Broudy extracts his evidence from such unlikely places …

Broudy extracts his evidence from such unlikely places as Egyptian tombs to the unearthed ruins of a ninth century Viking ship in Norway . . . In this awesome feat of research, recounted with storytelling expertise, he traces the growth of weaving from simple matting and wickerwork basketry to the massive Tapestry (haute-lisse)looms of the Gobelin workshop of Paris and the silk-producing izaribata looms of China . . . If you are a weaver by profession or hobby, this book will make you proud of it, and, if you have never touched a loom and are thinking of a new career, this book will, once you tear yourself away from it, send you spinning off to the yarn store.