Although women started to enter employment en masse in the early 20th century, it was not until the 1970s that they began to exercise a modicum of autonomy over what they wore at work. Accompanied by introductory essays by fashion journalist Vanessa Friedman and New York Times. bestselling author Roxane Gay, the 240 photographs in this volume depict the changes in women’s clothing in the workplace over the last hundred years.

A quarter of a century after the end of apartheid, Christopher Hope embarks on a road trip through his homeland from Cape Town to the Zimbabwean border, meeting exploited black miners and embittered white nationalists. In the face of persisting economic inequality and interracial bitterness, he concludes that Nelson Mandela’s dream of a ‘rainbow nation’ is fading, and it might be the turn of the whites to hear what anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo called ‘the Move-on Blues’.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors was labelled a terrorist when, after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer in 2013, she co-founded the activist movement Black Lives Matter. In this account, she recalls the experiences that shaped her journey, including racism in her Los Angeles childhood and her arrest at the age of twelve.

This illustrated guide to Spanish fans offers a comprehensive overview of their origin, development and use, from the gem-encrusted status symbols of the wealthy to the mass-produced, disposable paper trifles used to advertise goods and services. The various religious and cultural influences that inspired their design are considered, along with the range of materials used to construct them and the artists who decorated them.

Based on the historian Peter Kimpton’s collection of fashion postcards from Edwardian times, this well-illustrated guide documents the hat (and hatpin) fashions that defined that era and the designers – including Coco Chanel – who created them. The author also explores the darker side of the millinery industry, from the wholesale slaughter of exotic birds for their ornate feathers to the appalling conditions in the hat-making sweatshops of New York.

First published in 1920, this manual reveals a golden age of elegant dining. Advice on table settings and decorations, etiquette, food and wine is complemented by menus for breakfasts, al-fresco luncheons, wedding receptions and garden parties. A chapter on ‘freak dinners given by wealthy people’ offers a glimpse into the decadent world of the Jazz Era.

Part memoir, part social commentary, part elegy, this biography traces the life of Violet Thompson, the first woman to be given a publican’s licence in her own name.

Due to the expensive materials and craftsmanship required, shoes have often been regarded as status symbols; the desire of owners to display their wealth resulting in extreme designs such as the absurdly elongated toes of 14th-century 'poulaines'. This well-illustrated history of shoe design analyses the many fads of the 20th century and the latest models of contemporary designers as well as investigating footwear styles dating back as far as 3500 BCE – the oldest shoe ever found.

Dress in the Middle Ages was an identifier of status, wealth, occupation, gender and ethnicity, and fashions in dress caused controversy and complaint: ‘Do not fashion your clothing in a new-fangled way’, wrote Robert Brunne in Handlyng Synne (1303). This volume of manuscript sources, transcribed and translated from Old and Middle English, Latin and Anglo-Norman French, illuminates these subjects through readings from wills, accounts, inventories, moral and satirical works, sumptuary regulations and epics and romances.

How did a commodity that was once the prized monopoly of kings become an essential ingredient of everyday life and then the cause of a global health epidemic? James Walvin traces the history of how the demand for sweetness has been met, from early Mediterranean sugar plantations, to the immense human and environmental cost of the Caribbean plantations and the slave system, the industries that followed, and the dawning awareness of the obesity problem.

After petroleum, coffee is the most traded commodity in the world, with over 7 million tonnes produced annually. By 2015, Britain had more than 20,000 coffee shops, and the sector is still growing. This book charts the history of what a pope called ‘the Devil’s drink’, the rise of the coffee house in 18th-century Europe, and the global industry today.

Born in the Welsh valleys, Joan Ruddock went on to lead the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament before becoming an MP and the first Minister for Women in the Blair government. In this memoir, she recalls the hard lives of her parents, which fuelled her passion for social justice, her career as campaigner and politician, the euphoria she felt after the 1997 election, and the frustration and disillusionment that followed.

As battle raged in North Africa and Italy, Churchill and Roosevelt disagreed about how to win the war. Drawing on new research, this history – the second volume in a trilogy on FDR’s wartime leadership – overturns 70 years of received wisdom to reveal a strategic difference between the two men, as the president challenged Churchill’s decision to widen the war in the Mediterranean in favour of an invasion of France the following year.

This well-illustrated book follows the history of fashion and the social calendar in Britain from the late 18th century to the outbreak of the Second World War, when intricately drawn fashion plates were gradually abandoned in favour of photography. Material is taken from the pages of fashion magazines, showing readers how to dress appropriately and stylishly at any time of year and for any occasion, ranging from weddings and funerals to sporting activities, and the making of morning calls.

This comprehensive and detailed sourcebook comprises over 2,000 specially commissioned illustrations, many in colour, charting the history of the shoe from the Egyptian sandals of 2500 BCE to the baseball boots of the 21st century. Each example is carefully described, including details of materials, decorations and fastenings. The reference section provides short biographies of leading designers and companies, and a visual timeline shows the development of footwear through the centuries.

How did a commodity that was once the prized monopoly of kings become an essential ingredient of everyday life and then the cause of a global health epidemic? James Walvin traces the history of how the demand for sweetness has been met, from early Mediterranean sugar plantations, to the immense human and environmental cost of the Caribbean plantations and the slave system, the industries that followed, and the dawning awareness of the obesity problem.

First published in 1983, this landmark history shed new light on the struggle for social justice and drew attention to the achievements of many forgotten women activists. Reissued with a new introduction, it remains as relevant as ever today.

Doris Kloster, the photographer and editorial director of FAD magazine, presents an album of 160 photographs celebrating the world of night people, drag goddesses, dominatrixes and divas that inhabited New York’s club scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Sexually explicit.

Launched in 1978, weekly teenage magazine My Guy was packed with celebrity news, fashion tips, advice and photo stories. Here are some of the earliest stories, many featuring future stars such as Tracy Ullman, Hugh Grant and George Michael.