This superbly illustrated book draws on highlights from the V&A`s fabulous collection of woven, printed, and embroidered textiles and their designs. Based on the V&A`s British Textiles series, with a new introduction, this comprehensive compendium brings together a visual history of British fabrics with over 1,000 lush color images. The fabrics showcase the amazing creative abilities of professional and amateur designers over three centuries. International experts introduce each period and the textiles produced in it, with a short text followed by a plate section for each theme. The book includes technical and artistic innovations and provides an invaluable reading list, glossary of terms, and biographies of the chief figures of the era.