Land of Desire
Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture

a damn fine book detailing the transition in America from a culture of need and use to a culture of want. Manufactured demand gets a good looking-at in this book. Leach also gives some good stuff about the beginnings of advertising and design used to entice people to buy shit they don't need.......more

I've recently gotten really into topics dealing with the sociological factors leading to common day ideologies, i didn't really take these topics seriously. I thought i was smart enough to understand history and to connect the dots and trace things back to what they mean with my "common sense", but......more

"Land of Desire" traces the rise of American consumer culture since the late 1800's from several viewpoints: individuals purchasing goods, businesses retailing them, advertisers discovering how to spur demand for new items, the entry of fashion into mass marketing, and government encouragement of pr......more

unbelievably boring......more

A book everyone who studies American history should read!......more