Consumerism in Twentieth-Century Britain

Matthew Hilton is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Birmingham and the author of Smoking in British Popular Culture, 1800–2000 (2000).

• Introduction: luxury's shadow; Part I. Necessity: 1. Socialism, cooperation, free trade and fair trade: the politics of consumption in the nineteenth century; 2. Revolutionary shoppers: the Consumers' Council and scarcity in World War I; 3. The right to live: consumer 'ideology' in inter-war Britain; 4. The price of depression: consumer politics after World War I; 5. Austerity to affluence: the twilight of the politics of necessity; Part II. Affluence: 6. The new consumer: good housewives and enlightened businessmen; 7. The professionals: the origins of the organised consumer movement; 8. Individualism enshrined: the state and the consumer in the 1960s; 9. The right to shop: consumerism and the economy; 10. The duty of citizens: consumerism and society; 11. Affluence or effluence: globalisation and ethical consumerism; Conclusion: the quantity or the quality of choice.

'… due to the meticulously prepared index and the immensely well researched bibliography the outcome is a book that not only makes a compelling argument but can be used as a handbook for everyone researching nineteenth and twentieth-century consumer culture.' H-Soz-u-Kult