Book Description

In six hugely entertaining hours of television, BBC One brings the story of the great British high street to life in a major new series for Autumn 2010. At the centre of the programmes are five modern-day shopkeepers and their families, whose challenge will be to run their shops exactly as they would have been run in six key eras of British history, from the 1870s to the 1970s. The book that accompanies the television series tells the remarkable story of how the rise and fall of the high street transformed all our daily lives, touching on the history of technology, family relationships, work, food, fashion and community that make Britain what it is today. Each chapter vividly retells the story of the evolving high street at that period in time, with special emphasis given to changes in food, fashion, attitudes, jobs and family life. Illuminated with human interest stories from the programmes and illustrated with hundreds of archive photographs, this is the truly fascinating story of British society over the last century as well as a lavish photographic record of the great British high street in its heyday. CHAPTER 1 THE BIRTH OF THE GREAT BRITISH HIGH STREET. CHAPTER 2 SETTING UP SHOP (1880-1901). CHAPTER 3 THE GOLDEN AGE OF SHOPPING (1901-1918). CHAPTER 4 PEACE AND PROSPERITY (1918-1939). CHAPTER 5 MAKE DO AND MEND (1939-1945). CHAPTER 6 HELP YOURSELF (1945-1969). CHAPTER 7 COMMON MARKET (1970-1980). CHAPTER 8 THE FUTURE OF THE HIGH STREET. CHAPTER 9 YOUR HIGH STREET'S STORY.