Silk was first developed in ancient China as early as 2600 BC and over the centuries to follow it gradually spread first to South East Asia and then to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe along the silk route, becoming established in England in the fourteenth century. The early centers of the English silk industry, Spitalfields, Norwich and Cantebury, benefitted from the arrival of the Dutch or Huguenot silk workers and in 1718 the first factory system for producing silk was begun in Derby. This book traces the legendary silk route from China to the UK and explores the developments in...