Wool was a universally used material in clothing for centuries. In modern history, it was vital in most major wars in the last century and a half. But it has faded from use. Fleeced sets out to find out why, and along the way, tracks its usage in warfare and modern life. It was very enlightening. I knew basically nothing about the wool trade, and now I know a lot. But wow was that dense. This is an academic text full of numbers and data. It was interesting, but could drag.

The result of over a decade of research and site visits, Fleeced: Unraveling the History of Wool and War traces the development of wool as a commodity, sourced through large scale sheep pastorial-ism, to demonstrate its impact on the ways wars could be fought even though its own success led to environmentally damaging alternatives.

Fitzsimons and Shaw provide the full history, detailing the beginnings of the wool trade and how it shifted from Spain to Britain to United States and finally to Australia. They explain how the wool goes from animal product through an industrial process to become clothing or other textiles. Wool keeps its wearers warm even when wet, and can be re-used numerous times. While the American Civil War relied some on wool, it is World War I that is the central pivot point of the book.

Fitzsimons and Shaw argue that wool made the large armies possible, as they could be outfitted with many wool made equipment such as uniforms, coats, hats and blankets. As with other aspects of that conflict, Britain was largely in control of the supply, and Germany was forced to come up with alternatives where their stock pile was used up, this lead to the the creation of rayon and other synthetic fibers. And also, some more short lived more desperate alternatives like paper clothing.

And to be clear, the authors argue this is not the only reason for the growth of large armies, but it certainly was an important component to soldier health when in extended exposure to the elements.

It is very much a commodity, or industrial supply chain focused work, but demonstrates how the capitalistic focused enterprises of the 19th century have fueled our more recent fast fashion and environmental insecurity.

Recommended to readers of commodity histories, the textile industry or the military industrial complex.