Luxury and Gender in European Towns, 1700-1914

This volume explores the process of production, distribution, and consumption of luxury goods from a gendered and European perspective, filling a gap in the rich historiography of material culture and luxury consumption, and adding to our knowledge of the role of gender and luxury in shaping the modern town. Focusing on political, social and cultural contexts on the European scale and investigating different local cultures of luxury, it interrogates the concept of luxury itself and its shifting and puzzling meanings.