A fascinating view of carpets through an historical lens

Who hasn't had a rug in their home or place of work at one time or another...in fact, who has had so many over the course of their life that they don't give much thought to what it essentially a floor covering? But Threads of Empire is not talking about the everyday, machine made, area or wall-to-wall carpet so prevalent today; it is instead about carpets woven by hand in small towns and larger cities by artisans who seldom profited greatly from the items they crafted over the last 2000+ years. The art form (and in many instances, that is exactly what it is) has been around for hundreds upon hundreds of years, and author Dorothy Armstrong (referred to in museum and academic circles as "the carpet woman") here tells the story of a dozen specific pieces which have survived until today. This is neither an encyclopedia of different patterns and cultures who produced carpets nor a guide to determining the quality and value of said items, it is a look at the history of the world through a particular prism that considers who the individuals were who created the woven carpets, who valued and possessed them, and how they relate to the trade and politics of the time. The artisans were generally poor, often illiterate and frequently women, while those who would own the items those workers created generally had and/or sought power and wealth, be they rulers, warriors, or heads of religions...the carpets were, and remain, symbols of statur In much the way that Mark Kurlansky wrote about both cod and salt, Ms Armstrong here brings the textiles that have fascinated her for years to a wider audience. Weaving (no pun intended) stories around each of the twelve carpets on which she is focused in the book, she shares information about the cultures and individuals who are believed to have created them, what was going on in that region of the world at that time, what the imagery reflected, and more. From the Hermitage Museum to Britain's V&A and beyond, from famed collector Sir William Burrell to the heads of state at the Yalta Peace Conference, Threads of Empire spans 2500 years of textile history. Every now and again the specificity of detail got a bit much for me, but never so much so that I stopped being engaged in the overall story. Readers of Mark Kurlansky and Peter Frankopan as well as those who appreciate history and art should absolutely give these informative and entertaining read a spot on their TBR list. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (especially to Katie Layton who invited me to read the book) for allowing me access to Threads of Empire in exchange for my honest review.

Fascinating. This is about so much more than carpets but the carpets are the star. Armstrong uses the 12 carpets to explore the context in which they were made and used. She incorporates politics, history, economics. and biography to create an incredibly readable book. Best of all, you'll learn a lot about carpet making and never look at one the same way again. This is written in a journalistic style and those who are interested in more information will appreciate the careful notations. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read.

Threads of Empire is a captivating and layman accessible monograph by Dr. Dorothy Armstrong about the geopolitical history entwined with textiles (carpets), their history and development from ancient to modern times. Due out 17th June 2025 from Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 368 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

The author is a specialist scholar and curator with expertise in textiles writing deeply and well about her own specialty. She does a good job of illustrating the dichotomy between the powerful ruling classes throughout the ages and the lengths to which they would go to acquire these carpets which were the products of mostly poorer/illiterate/often female weavers.

It's written quite accessibly and in language which won't present many problems for laymen, but it's meticulously annotated throughout and the chapter notes and bibliography/references are likely worth the price of the book alone. The stories behind 12 particular historical carpets, curated by Dr. Armstrong, are fascinating and well told.

It's a niche book, but will definitely be on the radar for readers/fans of textile history, cultural history, political history, and allied subjects.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 10 hours 48 minutes and is narrated by Alix Dunmoore. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.

Four stars. It would be an excellent choice for public or university/post-secondary library acquisition, home use, or gift giving.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Threads of Empire by Dorothy Armstrong

This is a well-researched work of love from author Dorothy Armstrong. It tells the tale of 12 specific rugs throughout history and speculates on the reason for their making and those who made them.

It is very detailed and describes the materials used for the weaving and dyeing of each rug from centuries ago up until the rug shown in a picture of the Yalta Conference after WWII.

Truthfully, I was not the audience for this book, but think it would appeal to those interested in the history of rug making through the centuries. The weaving universally seemed to be done by poor women and even children for the rich and powerful.

I will give this book a four star rating due to the exhaustive research, though I found it too dry for my taste.

5e story of several carpets, and one carpet made into a coat that are expressions of culture, civilization, and ultimately empire. The good and the bad.

Dorothy Armstrong weaves—quite like a rug itself—the stories that one can unravel by pulling, metaphorically speaking, on some loose threads of the famous, remarkable, and ancient carpets known in human history. Through this interwoven approach, one learns about the centuries-old events that defined the power and splendor of the rulers who commissioned or were gifted those rich rugs; about the practices and customs that shaped their restoration and preservation; and about the historians and curators who revealed their own biases and stereotypes when confronted with the challenge of attributing the artifacts. The titular empires are a recurring motif, and that’s an important keyword—both in reference to the power dynamics within the historical formations where (or for whose elites) the rugs were initially created, and to the European empires at their height, when the creation of collections was in full force.

Because the segments about specific rugs are completely unconnected, I won’t hide that I’ve only read a few out of twelve so far and hope to continue with them one by one in between other reads in the future. This is historical scholarship at its best—with all the supporting apparatus—which doesn’t detract from its readability. The review copy I was reading, unfortunately, didn’t have any illustrations, so I had to search for those myself to better follow the descriptions of the intricate and symbolically significant patterns of the rugs, but I assume that the final version will include them, as well as some maps.

Publication date: June 17, 2025.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with the eARC through NetGalley. The opinion above is my own.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: June 17, 2025
“Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets” by Dorothy Armstrong is exactly as the title implies. Through examinations of twelve of the world’s most intriguing and interesting carpets (yes, that’s a thing), Armstrong outlines what the world looked like during that time, in the area of the specific carpet’s creation, such as Iran, Persia, Turkey and Russia (granted they have different names depending on the era).
I had no idea that there was such a thing as “carpet experts”, but Armstrong is somehow not the only one. Throughout history, there have been many individuals with an interest in carpets, and a general curiousity about where they came from and how they came to be. Armstrong places carpet weaving in the same category as other historical pieces of art, such as wall drawings or ancient tools, and it does make sense. Carpets have been around for several millennia and they do have quite the story to tell.
Armstrong introduces each of the twelve chapters with a specific carpet, identifying its make, description and best guess as to the carpet’s era and location. Then, she proceeds to go into detail about the society at the time and circles around again to the specific carpet and where it is stored or on display (depending on the carpet). As is typical in a historical non-fiction novel, there is lots of political manipulations, wars and struggles for power, as well as overt and subtle racism, sexism and classism and Armstrong details these, using specific carpets as emphasis.
It never even occurred to me to consider carpets as historically relevant, but Armstrong has managed to change my viewpoint. Some areas of “Empire” are dry, and this is the type of story that is geared to a specific audience, but I enjoyed some of the historical information, especially in the earlier chapters when the carpets were uncovered (no pun intended) during archaeological digs. Due to the specialized talent carpet weaving requires, especially in centuries past before modern machines, there is no argument that the creation of carpets, especially historical ones, should be considered artistic masterpieces in their own right.
“Threads” is a unique historical exploration that will hit the right note with a specific group of readers. Fans of political history, especially in the Middle East, and carpet weaving as an art form will enjoy Armstrong’s new non-fiction story.

This book was something I wasn’t sure I would like to I did enjoy this book! I loved the history, the great d ed fails as to all the arguments about the origin of the various rugs. It was so well researched! I love hearing about the things found in various tombs and what all was buried with the nobility. It very fascinating. I re see ally enjoyed this book.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

Excellent! This very well-researched book gives the history of finely made textiles in a truly readable voice. The author has a gift for storytelling, and I both learned a lot from this book and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Anyone who is interested in crafts, textiles, or just good social history would get a lot out of this book. Highly recommended!

Digressive Chat About Carpets
Dorothy Armstrong, Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets (New York: St. Martin’s Press, June 17, 2025). Hardcover: $33. 368pp; Nonfiction. ISBN: 978-1-250321-43-5.
***
“…The stories surrounding twelve of the world’s most fascinating carpets. Beautiful, sensuous, and enigmatic, great carpets follow power. Emperors, shahs, sultans and samurai crave them as symbols of earthly domination. Shamans and priests desire them to evoke the spiritual realm. The world’s 1% hunger after them as displays of extreme status. And yet these seductive objects are made by poor and illiterate weavers, using the most basic materials and crafts; hedgerow plants for dyes, fibers from domestic animals, and the millennia-old skills of interweaving warps, wefts and knots…. Tells the histories of some of the world’s most fascinating carpets, exploring how these textiles came into being then were transformed as they moved across geography and time in the slipstream of the great. She shows why the world’s powerful were drawn to them, but also asks what was happening in the weavers’ lives, and how they were affected by events in the world outside their tent, village or workshop. In its wide-ranging examination of these dazzling objects, from the 5th century BCE contents of the tombs of Scythian chieftains, to the carpets under the boots of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the 1945 Yalta Peace Conference,” it “uncovers a new, hitherto hidden past right beneath our feet.”
I have been thinking about crafts lately. There have been many great television series about glass-blowers, sword-shapers and the like. This is a current topic especially because of ongoing discussions about putting enormous tariffs on foreign goods to make American products more sellable. This type of research into just how much extraordinary cheap work goes into making great artistic crafted objects, such as carpets. It would be absurd for Americans to compete with people who have spent generations in such practice. It is also refreshing that history is being cut up into these curious segments. And there have not been enough histories published in English about topics about the East and the Middle East. Our misunderstanding of these places is what’s driving current military wars in the Middle East, and trade ward with the East. So a bit more understanding is useful.
The preface explains that the author has “sometimes” been “referred” to as “the carpet woman” because she has returned to school to focus on studying this subject.
The introduction explains that the first part of this book considers the “movement west of nomadic tribespeople out of the Petri dish of Central Asia from around 500 BCE.” They brough with them “the carpet-weaving practice” of nomads. Then, she refuses “the Eurasia-wide resurgence of the” 15-17th centuries. Then, a look at the “Age of Empire, the peak of Western colonialism” in the 19-20th centuries, when they were guilty of “cultural appropriation” of carpets. This is a useful introduction as it helps readers orient themselves, and find the content relevant to their interests. The “Contents” page just breaks these down by the name of the carpet, their period, without explaining this broader grouping.
“Chapter One: Chieftain” describes a “knotted-pile carpet” from the 3-4th century BCE in Siberia. Some negative things begin to be apparent here, as the chapter begins with a description of animal-herding without a clear explanation why this is relevant to carpets. A couple of pages in, there’s the first note about a “rug with ancient religious systems” with “dots” that are “dating back to the Neolithic” that “may represent the sun”. It is frustrating when historians assume circles stand for the sun or religion because I am sure that ancient people were mostly atheists, and only religious colonists convinced the world they were worshipping strange gods to turn them into “others”. Then there’s talk about this “old carpet” having faded colors. If it’s thousands of years old, it would be very strange if it was not faded. Then the author keeps returning to how she is feeling about this carpet and its “strange and archaic” look. Only in the next section are some details offered about this place being high above sea-level in Siberia, but then there are new digressions about it being “remote”.
This is not a good book. It is conversational, and too fluffy for a history. The blurb makes a lot of promises and got me pretty excited about what this book could have been, but it’s just not what actually appears in these pages. This is not a recommended read.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Spring 2025 issue: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-spring-2025

Fascinating read, even though you might hesitate to pick it up.
I really enjoy history – I have 2 degrees in it. I probably would not have picked this book up in a bookstore. I am so glad that I was recommended this book from NetGalley. I really enjoyed learning the common threads (pun intended) in these empires throughout history. The organization of the book was very well-planned and made for an enjoyable read.

old like a friend telling you about their passion.
This book reads like you are sitting with a good friend discussing your weekend. You might not have thought you cared about rugs or history or even global empires, but your friend’s (the author’s) enthusiasm and passion is infectious, and you find yourself enthralled, asking questions, and thrilled you are learning something new.

The Final Verdict: An intriguing read where you discover you’ve learned so many new things without even realizing it. Definitely give it a try!
Stars 4
Would I Recommend? Yes

This wasn't just a book about carpets - it was a book about history and the carpets that were woven during different time periods. As a huge history buff, this aspect was fascinating to me. The ability to impart so much information in a way that wasn''t dry or boring is a testament to Dorothy Armstrong's thoughtful writing and amazing research capabilities. Some sections were more fact based than others, of course, since the carpets discussed dated from BCE to the end of the 20th century, but that was the beauty of this book - the information was just as much about what was happening in different parts of the world at the different times the rugs were woven, as it was about the rugs themselves. Even the time periods where the information was conjecture based 0n our knowledge of what was happening at that time in history, how people lived, traveled and survived, was extremely interesting.

I honestly enjoyed reading Threads of Empire more than I thought I would, and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Dorothy Armstrong, and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review Threads of Empire.

The idea of sharing history through carpets is a great one.
Graphics did not load so I am still wondering what these carpets were.
much information was shared on many pages.

4.5 stars

This was such a well-researched and thoughtfully treated book! I found the use of carpets - their textile motifs and fabrication styles - as a diving off point into geo-political history rather a fascinating premise, and I was not disappointed. Each chapter takes a deep look at one particular carpet: usually rather ancient, sometimes with provable provenance, sometimes not. Most are under lock and key in venerable global museum collections. But the author goes the extra mile (or more) with research into the lineage of each carpet and what was happening in that part of the world at the time of its creation, and then takes you on a journey across its lifespan. I found it fairly easy to distinguish between fact and conjecture throughout most of the book; honestly I enjoyed the way that speculative history was presented in beautiful vignettes. And I can appreciate how much effort went into the research of this, having a professional background in museum and archival collections practices myself. The only reason I can't give this the full five stars is that the photos of the carpets were not included in the advanced reader's copy I received; how much more magical would this experience have been for me had I been able to see the vivid beauty of these carpets myself rather than having to rely on the author's descriptions of them, no matter how thorough they were? However, I'm sure that particular issue will be rectified with the official publication release.

Thanks to NetGalley, author Dorothy Armstrong, and St. Martin's Press for giving me access to a free digital ARC of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided here voluntarily.

I find it fascinating that one can learn about history in so many different ways. In this interesting title, history is looked at through the lens of twelve carpets from around the world. Readers learn about objects from the third or fourth century BCE, right up to the twentieth century here.

The carpets come from places including Anatolia, Iran, India, Pakistan, and Siberia. There are chieftains, Samurai, Tycoons and others to be found in these pages.

The author opens by writing about how her interest in carpets came about. She then, in a preface, lays out her thesis about rugs and power, noting that these objects were often made by the humble for the wealthy.

This book is written in an engaging style by a writer who knows her subject well. I like that her presence is in these pages when she writes in the first person at times. I admire how she brings history to life.

There is much to learn in these pages for the reader who is interested in this subject or for a reader who is looking on an interesting take on history.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This is more than a book about just carpets. It is an exploration of the parts twelve carpets have played in world events. Carpets, usually woven by nameless women, have been desired throughout history by sultans and holy men, tycoons and tyrants, and their histories shed light on power dynamics across the ages. The author is a former fellow in carpet studies at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. The book contains descriptions of some of the rarest and most important carpets ever made. Dorothy Armstrong describes where and when, by whom (as far as one can tell) and for whom each carpet was originally made for. She investigates its afterlife at the feet of the individuals who owned it. Her book spans the globe, though there is a particular focus on the Near East, where most of these carpets were made. Europe and North America are where they have ended up. The carpets reveal cultural biases, colonial greed and gender prejudice. I enjoyed enjoyed this history of the world through the stories of twelve notable carpets. It tells intriguing stories of emperors, shahs, sultans and samurai. It showed me global culture, history and politics through these carpets.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was an interesting book on various rugs and the histories of them. It was interesting to read where they came from and to read how rugs are made. I enjoy learning about the history of things; so this book was right up my alley.

I loved this book! It was so fascinating and engaging. I genuinely learned so much about carpets and a whole lot else.


Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

So Dr. Armstrong takes a fabulous, measured approach to carpets. She focuses on 12 different carpets that are significant for something they tell us. Now that can be their make, their makers, their commissioners, their later buyers, their travels across time, their materials, etc. All of it woven together to create a lovely representation of different times and cultures.

While I loved learning about the different times and cultures, I really appreciated Dr. Armstrong’s approach to the challenges of historical work. She acknowledges in a really kind, appropriate, human way how war, imperialism, etc. affect the carpets, carpet-makers, and others involved in the field. I was particularly struck by her treatment of the ethnographic uses of one carpet by the Russian state and the changes in its use by the state. She also approaches academic/social debates over carpets in a fun way.

Again, I really loved the carpets covered in the book. I learned so much about carpets, such as the different types of carpets across the world. And I picked up so many elements of history that I had forgotten or never encountered before. And it was so engaging! I loved each chapter and just wanted to reread it over and over to learn even more. I even couldn’t help telling my students about some of the carpets because Dr. Armstrong’s presentation was so fascinating.

I highly recommend this book, especially to folks with an art history interest. No carpet-specific background needed! A wonderful presentation of this field.

Threads of Empire is an intriguing, well-researched book that approaches art & history from a unique perspective. Author Dorothy Armstrong showcases her depth of knowledge, personal experience, and deep love for the art of carpet weaving in this work to bring ancient history to life. I thoroughly enjoyed looking up each of these carpets and following along as Armstrong describes the motifs, recounts the journey of how the piece came to be part of a modern collection, and tells the history of the time and place during which the carpet was created. This book is not a lesson on the history of carpets — It is a world history lesson told through the woven art of carpets.

There are many things to appreciate about this book, but one thing that really stood out to me was how the author made a point throughout to address problematic aspects of art curation & collection, such as colonialism, cultural appropriation, stolen artifacts, etc. These topics are seamlessly woven into the discussion, provoking the reader to think about these things, but without pulling the reader out of the story being told about each piece.

While I did not expect to pick up and enjoy a book about carpets throughout history, Threads of Empire was a delightful surprise. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for inviting me to read an ARC.

This was an intriguing and informative account of some historically significant carpets throughout the world and history! I loved getting some backstory on how these carpets were made and their historical significance based on where they were or what time period they saw. There were so many amazing facts and tidbits throughout this book that were fascinating to learn about! Definitely worth the read!