Family Business

A charming biography of the first John Lewis and how he changed the British high street - from Victoria Glendinning, winner of the Duff Cooper Prize, the James Tait Black Prize and (twice) the Whitbread Prize for Biography.



John Lewis' father died in a Somerset workhouse, orphaning him at the age of seven. Raised by an aunt, he worked as an apprentice to a local draper from the age of fourteen, slowly earning enough to open his own small shop - and then expand.


This brilliant biography captures how Lewis and his brother rose up to change the business world, covering the immense falling out between generations, the passionate advocacy for the concept of Partnership, the social and political activity of Oxford Street. This is a history for anyone with an interest in the foundation of the British high street or business from nineteenth century London to today. In the final chapter, looking at retail and recession, Glendinning will look at what the like future of John Lewis might be.