Bookshops are a comforting sight on our high streets, warm and welcoming spaces in which to browse, meet friends and occasionally buy books. They may feel timeless, yet their history is a restless and turbulent one, filled with as many entrepreneurial street hawkers and illicit trades as with beloved institutions.

_The Bookshop_, from the celebrated author of _The Library_ [https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/books/arthur-der-weduwen-and-andrew-pettegree/the-library/9781788163439/] and _The Book at War_ [https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/books/andrew-pettegree/the-book-at-war/9781800814943/], explores the evolution of bookselling from the cramped collectors' shops frequented by Samuel Pepys to the radical feminist bookshops of the 70s, the rise of monolithic chains and the new world of online selling.

Connecting stories and lives that span centuries, countries and continents, _The Bookshop_ brings us into beloved bookshops of today and looks forward to the possible experience of booksellers of tomorrow.

Andrew Pettegree, FBA, is Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews. He is the author of _The Book at War_, the prize-winning _The Book in the Renaissance_ and co-author of _The Library: A Fragile History._ He is a former Vice-President of the Royal Historical Society and founding director of the Universal Short Title Catalogue.