As Britain's population grew and the country became more urbanised and industrialised in eighteenth and early nineteenth century, so shops, shopkeepers and shopworkers also increased in number. Once people were no longer self- sufficient, so mass production stepped in to provide for their wants and improved communication and transport meant that goods could be sent to any part of the country. Pamela Horn's new book tells the story of the people who worked in the retail trade from the beginning of the eighteenth to the middle of the twentieth century. "Behind the Counter" reveals the largely hidden personal stories of working life in corner shops, 'high class' grocers, dress shops, department stores.
