London Shops: The World's Emporium

For centuries London has had shops, Londoners have gone shopping and people have visited London to do the same. Many familiar shop names have their beginnings as early as the eighteenth century, and many historic shop buildings are still used for the same purpose as they always were. A fascinating example is James Lock & Co, hatters of James's Street, which moved to its premises in 1765 and is still there, continues to make hats, and is run by the same family. Part of the England-wide English Heritage survey of historic shop buildings, this highly illustrated book concentrating on shops in the capital has chapters on specialist shops, food shops, department stores, arcades and markets, and much else. It is essentially a celebration of the heritage of shopping. Some wonderful buildings are to be found in this book, coupled with some amazing archive photography and stunning new photographs.