DESCRIPTION
This essay offers an introduction to the history of consumer culture in nineteenth-century Britain. It identifies the various approaches scholars have used when defining ‘consumption’ and its implications for different aspects of nineteenth-century society. This is followed by an overview of patterns of consumption during the century, addressing both elements of change and continuity in British consumer culture. The final section examines the relationship between consumption and different categories of identity, including those of class, gender, and nation.
