The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker

Reviews / Votes

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 *