This book analyzes the business, geography and politics of shopkeeping in Milan between 1886 and 1922. The author studies the trades, techniques, tax structure and topography of the Milanese retail sector, addresses questions relating to petit bourgeois identity, and explains why shopkeepers were to be found on the political right in the years that led up to the Fascist takeover. This is the first full-scale study of any aspect of the experience of the Italian petite bourgeoisie in the pre-Fascist period.