A Cultural History Of Shopping

Evidence for the existence of shops has been found across many archaeological sites in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East but the study of shops and retailing in antiquity is a relatively new subject. From Classical Greece through to the Late Roman Empire, shopping shifted from being a means to an end - a method of supplementing the family diet or providing material goods the household could not manufacture itself - to a form of experience where the processes of browsing and not purchasing became as important as buying. This dramatic transformation is a reflection of the changing material desires of these societies and their perspectives on the ways in which the fulfillment of those desires could be achieved. Recurring themes in this interdisciplinary volume include the lives of 'ordinary' people; the relationship between gender and shopping; the contrast between Greece and Rome; the attitudes towards shopkeepers; the placing of shops in the cityscape; and the zoning of particular crafts and products. A Cultural History of Shopping in Antiquity presents an overview of the period with themes addressing 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. Book jacket.

"A Cultural History of Shopping presents the first ever historical survey of shopping from antiquity to the present day. With six volumes covering 2,500 years, this set focuses upon the intersection point between consumption and retailing and offers the most authoritative history yet available of shopping in Western cultures"--

"A Cultural History of Shopping presents the first ever historical survey of shopping from antiquity to the present day. With six volumes covering 2,500 years, this set focuses upon the intersection point between consumption and retailing and offers the most authoritative history yet available of shopping in Western cultures"--

"A Cultural History of Shopping presents the first ever historical survey of shopping from antiquity to the present day. With six volumes covering 2,500 years, this set focuses upon the intersection point between consumption and retailing and offers the most authoritative history yet available of shopping in Western cultures"--

"A Cultural History of Shopping presents the first ever historical survey of shopping from antiquity to the present day. With six volumes covering 2,500 years, this set focuses upon the intersection point between consumption and retailing and offers the most authoritative history yet available of shopping in Western cultures"--

"A Cultural History of Shopping presents the first ever historical survey of shopping from antiquity to the present day. With six volumes covering 2,500 years, this set focuses upon the intersection point between consumption and retailing and offers the most authoritative history yet available of shopping in Western cultures"--

In this age of high consumption shopping is going stronger than ever as a national pastime. We are a culture obsessed and beguiled by the desire for consumer goods. Journalist and shopping addict Klaffke documents the history of shopping, from a time when cattle were currency to the current age of contemporary shopping phenomenon like QVC and eBay. From the history of the mall, to a look at the darker side of shopping culture - kleptomania, shopping addictions, anti-consumerism - this is the definitive chronology of the materialist age.