Overview

In 1909 London's first dedicated department store opened in a glorious burst of publicity, surrounded by the largest advertising campaign ever mounted in the British press. Zola called Selfridges a 'great cathedral of shopping', and its high priest was Harry Gordon Selfridge, father of modern retailing, philanderer, gambler, dandy and the greatest showman the consumer world has ever known. The charismatic Selfridge had created nothing less than a lavish 'theatre of retail'. His talents were for shopping and seduction: and as his shop grew in success, so did his list of mansions, yachts, racehorses - and conquests. From humble beginnings, learning his trade in turn-of-the-century Chicago, the young Mr Selfridge came to London, where he lived through the turmoil of the First World War and the glittering excesses of the 1920s when he lost millions at French gaming tables before being ousted from his store in 1939. To this irrepressible man, 'the store was a theatre with the curtain going up at 9 o'clock': Mr Selfridge reveals the captivating story of what happened before the curtain fell.

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9781781250587

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In this energetic and wonderfully detailed biography, Lindy Woodhead ... provides an enthralling description of fashion, politics, music and dance, the arts, the sciences advertising and the use of the media, during the decades before the Second war. * Evening Standard * A rich social history of a time of great change * Spectator Business * A fascinating biographical, as well as sociological, study -- Independent on Sunday

In this energetic and wonderfully detailed biography, Lindy Woodhead ... provides an enthralling description of fashion, politics, music and dance, the arts, the sciences advertising and the use of the media, during the decades before the Second war. Evening Standard A rich social history of a time of great change Spectator Business A fascinating biographical, as well as sociological, study -- Independent on Sunday

'In this energetic and wonderfully detailed biography, Lindy Woodhead... provides an enthralling description of fashion, politics, music and dance, the arts, the sciences advertising and the use of the media, during the decades before the Second war.' (Evening Standard) 'A rich social history of a time of great change' (Spectator Business)

Author Information

Lindy Woodhead worked in international fashion for over twenty-five years. During the late 1980s she spent two years as the first woman on the board of directors of Harvey Nichols. Lindy retired from fashion in 2000 to concentrate on writing. She is the author of War Paint and Shopping, Seduction and Mr Selfridge. She is a regular contributor to the Spectator and The Times Saturday Magazine.

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