In 1750, half the population were unable to sign their names; by 1914 England, together with handful of advanced Western countries, had for the first time in hi

The Culture of Secrecy is the first comprehensive study of the restriction of official information in modern British history. It seeks to understand why secrets

In recent years, social and legal historians have called into question the degree to which the labour that fuelled and sustained industrialization in England wa

Despite the dramatic expansion of consumer culture from the beginning of the eighteenth century onwards and the developments in retailing, advertising and credi