Tammy C. Whitlock is Professor of the Department of History at the University of Kentucky, USA.

'Whitlock presents a fascinating picture of capitalism that is never very far from criminality and that created a sphere for buyers and sellers to make handsome profits and suffer great losses.' Victorian Studies 'Whitlock is to be complimented for her uncovering of a fascinating period in the history of retailing. Her use of a range of materials brings a significant contribution to our understandings of the history of consumer society, and she provides an impressive case for a reinterpretation of many of the debates assumed to originate with the emergence of the department store.' Journal of British Studies 'This book unearths much fascinating material... there is much in this book that will be of value to anybody interested in the cultures associated with nineteenth-century retailing and consumption.' Urban History

• Contents: Introduction. Part I Destroying 'The Nation Of Shopkeepers': Ready money only: small shops and new retail methods; Vanity fairs: the growth of bazaars and fancy fairs; 'Mothers beware!': fraud by the retailer; The culture of fraud and the female consumer. Part II Criminal Consumption: Shoplifting in early 19th-century England; Mrs McGregor's sealskin jacket: female frauds and the art of buying without paying; Solving the problem of the criminal consumer: women and kleptomania. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Tammy C. Whitlock is Professor of the Department of History at the University of Kentucky, USA.

'Whitlock presents a fascinating picture of capitalism that is never very far from criminality and that created a sphere for buyers and sellers to make handsome profits and suffer great losses.' Victorian Studies 'Whitlock is to be complimented for her uncovering of a fascinating period in the history of retailing. Her use of a range of materials brings a significant contribution to our understandings of the history of consumer society, and she provides an impressive case for a reinterpretation of many of the debates assumed to originate with the emergence of the department store.' Journal of British Studies 'This book unearths much fascinating material... there is much in this book that will be of value to anybody interested in the cultures associated with nineteenth-century retailing and consumption.' Urban History

• Contents: Introduction. Part I Destroying 'The Nation Of Shopkeepers': Ready money only: small shops and new retail methods; Vanity fairs: the growth of bazaars and fancy fairs; 'Mothers beware!': fraud by the retailer; The culture of fraud and the female consumer. Part II Criminal Consumption: Shoplifting in early 19th-century England; Mrs McGregor's sealskin jacket: female frauds and the art of buying without paying; Solving the problem of the criminal consumer: women and kleptomania. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Tammy C. Whitlock is Professor of the Department of History at the University of Kentucky, USA.

'Whitlock presents a fascinating picture of capitalism that is never very far from criminality and that created a sphere for buyers and sellers to make handsome profits and suffer great losses.' Victorian Studies 'Whitlock is to be complimented for her uncovering of a fascinating period in the history of retailing. Her use of a range of materials brings a significant contribution to our understandings of the history of consumer society, and she provides an impressive case for a reinterpretation of many of the debates assumed to originate with the emergence of the department store.' Journal of British Studies 'This book unearths much fascinating material... there is much in this book that will be of value to anybody interested in the cultures associated with nineteenth-century retailing and consumption.' Urban History

• Contents: Introduction. Part I Destroying 'The Nation Of Shopkeepers': Ready money only: small shops and new retail methods; Vanity fairs: the growth of bazaars and fancy fairs; 'Mothers beware!': fraud by the retailer; The culture of fraud and the female consumer. Part II Criminal Consumption: Shoplifting in early 19th-century England; Mrs McGregor's sealskin jacket: female frauds and the art of buying without paying; Solving the problem of the criminal consumer: women and kleptomania. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.