The study of consumption and its relationship to cultural and social values has become a vibrant and important field in recent years. Hitherto however, relatively few detailed and full length works on this topic have been published. In what will become a seminal volume, this book examines retail selling in various historical contexts and locations, as both an activity at once 'mundane' and almost universal. The book introduces the reader to the existing literature relevant to the subject; and explores the widespread perceptions of moral ambiguity surrounding the practice of selling consumer...

A Nation of Shopkeepers reflects some of the most exciting research on retail history and cultures of consumption. The contributors challenge existing ideas about retail development showing how, for example, large-scale retailers played a far lesser role in the development of the modern city than is generally thought, and how the success of department stores was determined less by 'entrepreneurial' spirit and more by the unforeseen consequences of legislation.