A Cultural History of Shopping

A Library Journal Best in Reference selection for 2022

How has the activity of shopping changed over the centuries? And what does it tell us about the lives and interests of people living within different cultures? In a work that spans 2,500 years, these questions are addressed by 55 experts, each contributing an overview of a theme applied to a period in history. With the help of a broad range of case material they illustrate broad trends and nuances of the culture of shopping from antiquity to the present. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole and, to make it as easy as possible to use, chapter titles are the same across each of the volumes. This gives the choice of reading about a specific period in one of the volumes, or following a theme across history history by reading the relevant chapter in each of the six.

The six volumes cover: 1 - Antiquity (500 BCE to 500 CE); 2 - Middle Ages (500 to 1450); 3 - Early Modern Age (1450 to 1650); 4 - Age of Enlightenment (1650 to 1820); 5 - Age of Revolution and Empire (1820 to 1920); 6 - Modern Age (1920 to 2000+).

Themes and chapter titles are: Practices and Processes; Spaces and Places; Shoppers and Identities; Luxury and Everyday; Home and Family; Visual and Literary Representations; Reputation, Trust and Credit; and Governance, Regulation and the State.

The page extent for the pack is approximately 1,700 pp. Each volume opens with Notes on Contributors and an Introduction by the Volume Editor and concludes with Notes, Bibliography and an Index.

The Cultural Histories Series
A Cultural History of Shopping is part of The Cultural Histories Series. Titles are available as hardcover sets for libraries needing just one subject or preferring a tangible reference for their shelves or as part of a fully-searchable digital library. The digital product is available to institutions by annual subscription or on perpetual access via www.bloomsburyculturalhistory.com . Individual volumes for academics and researchers interested in specific historical periods are also available in print or digitally via www.bloomsburycollections.com .

• Publication date: 20 August 2026
• Dimensions: Height 246 mm; Width 172 mm; Thickness 72 mm
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: Multiple-component retail product
• ISBN-13: 9781350650428