Episode 2

Available for over a year

From its home in China, silk's commercial spread constituted the first global industry, offering high profits to those braving the dangerous journey along the Silk Road and beyond. The secrets behind its production were closely guarded, and China managed to maintain its hold onto these secrets for a thousand years - but thank to a large helping of smuggling and industrial espionage, other countries including France, Italy and the UK became major players in the industry. In part two of 'Silk', Steph McGovern discovers that this most sought after material has also driven technological change, from the prototype computer programme offered by the Jacquard loom in the nineteenth century, to the development today of artificial body parts. She discovers too how silk's fortunes have been inextricably linked with political upheaval - championed by American revolutionaries, damned by French revolutionaries, and providing the setting for the birth of the Anarchist movement.