This is a very well- written, extremely informative and thoughtful book useful to planners and anyone interested in understanding and influencing the way in which places to shop are developed. The breadth of the book, which includes a survey of shopping through the hstory as well as an examination of modern shopping via the interent, puts the act of shopping into context by exploring the relationship between community and shopping. Is it possible for the public and local government to mold and shape where and how shopping occurs without drastically impeding the ability of retailers and other providers to sell their products? Is the modern way of shopping destructive to the structure of community? These are questions that planners and communities must address. Reading this book will place the elements of the debate into perspective.