The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker

‘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‘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‘A light, nostalgia-provoking read with a social conscience’ - The Times ‘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

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.