The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker

'Annie Gray's fascinating history of a British institution in crisis illuminates and entertains' GREG JENNER'Properly immersive, full of juicy sensory detail - Annie Gray's romp down British high streets through the centuries is a blast' TESSA BOASEBustling with rich detail, historical vignettes and surprising wares, this is the story of Britain's best-loved but ever-changing public spaces.What makes a high street? It's certainly not just about the shopping; these thoroughfares are often the beating heart of our towns and cities and, by extension, of the people who use them. As spaces where local life and culture unfolds, our high streets can be playgrounds of personal indulgence and community spirit, or sites of contentious debate and politicking.Historian Annie Gray takes us down the street and through the ages, from medieval marketplaces to the purpose-built concrete precincts of the twentieth century. Peeping through the windows of tailors, tearooms and grocers, we explore everything from the toyshops of yesteryear - where curiosities were sold for adults, not children - to the birth of brands we shop at today.Vibrant and enticing, The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker is an essential reflection on how we shopped and lived in days gone by - and what the future may bring.

The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker whisks us back to medieval days, when farmers and artisans came to town with their produce ... Gray's impeccably researched book is searingly nostalgic - a history of shopping before everything vanished online; before hateful self scan tills came in; before out-of town malls (frightful sheds) arrived with easier parking; before self-service supermarkets destroyed small-scale shopkeeping -- Roger Lewis Daily Mail
Like being in the company of a chatty, trusted friend ... wander through the fascinating backstory of the high street with a truly excellent historian as your guide -- Lucy Worsley, historian and author of AGATHA CHRISTIE: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A light, nostalgia-provoking read with a social conscience The Times
Fascinating history of a British institution in crisis. Annie Gray's history illuminates, entertains and provides vital context for the big decisions we face about the future of the high street -- Dan Snow, author and host of HISTORY HIT podcast
Passionate, funny and deeply knowledgeable - Annie Gray is my favourite food historian -- Greg Jenner, author and host of BBC You're Dead To Me
Her account of the gradual rise of consumption from the later Middle Ages to the present day is masterly Literary Review
Finds the human element of the high street TLS
In this rich, thought-provoking and lively history of the high street from 1650 to 1965, Gray demonstrates time and time again that there is nothing new under the sun. Rejecting our modern doominess about our town centres ... Gray writes chronologically, leading readers by the hand round puddles and along bustling pavements, offering a nostalgia-provoking sensory experience of noise, smells, tastes and unusual sights - this is history in its messiest, most bustling human essence -- Melanie Reid The Times Book of the Week
Stuffed full of fascinating facts... refreshingly unsentimental Spectator
Annie Gray's romp down British high streets through the centuries is a blast. She is that gossipy, shopping bestie who has the inside track and the little black book: how to spot a bogus flash-sale, what colour teapot will show your hands to best advantage, where best for street snacking (wrinkled apples, cups of salop). Properly immersive, full of juicy sensory detail and brilliant small-time characters; Gray has dug deep into the archives for the bits that other retail historians leave out -- Tessa Boase, author of LONDON'S LOST DEPARTMENT STORES
A social history that stretches as far back as the Medieval marketplace and canters breezily through the centuries to the Georgians and Victorians and the concrete precincts of today ... The Bookshop, The Draper and The Candlestick Maker is a title evokes a bygone age Unseen Histories
Dr Annie Gray has a talent for making food history digestible. Taking on the hot topic of the high street, she explores centuries of social and economic change through the lens of our shops and shopping habits' House and Garden
Historian Annie Gray revisits the history of the British high street [and] takes [us] on a shopping stroll through the centuries -- Ellie Cawthorne History Extra podcast
A wonderfully well-researched, fact-filled, quirky and humorous book Who Do You Think You Are Magazine
[Gray's] abilities are based on profound erudition and research, coupled with beautiful English and, above all, her skill in telling delightful and amusing stories... this book is filled with hope Church Times
Praise for Annie Gray :
Annie Gray leads the pack -- Jay Rayner
Dr Annie Gray is just one of the best! She brings history and food to life with humanity and her customary wry wit and attention to detail. Anything that she writes is always a joy to immerse oneself in -- Andi Oliver
The queen of food historians -- Lucy Worsley
Gray is an inventive researcher ... she likes to get close up to the everyday past Spectator
Praise for Victory in the Kitchen -- :
Popular history at its very best Daily Mail
Engaging ... appeals to three national obsessions: the preparation and presentation of food; the lost world of great households, above and below stairs; and the private life of a national hero, Churchill The Times
Deliciously entertaining Daily Mail
Full of mouthwatering detail, and punctuated with Georgina's delicious recipes, this is below-stairs history at its most fascinating Daily Mail

Annie Gray is an historian, cook, broadcaster and writer specialising in the history of food and dining in Britain from around 1600 to the present day. She has presented TV history documentaries including Victorian Bakers and The Sweetmakers, and appears on BBC Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet. She is the author of a number of books, most recently At Christmas We Feast, also from Profile. She lives in East Anglia.

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