A Nation of Shopkeepers

ANNETTE ON THE ROAD Money Makes the World Go Askew. The View from London

Napoleon (French military leader/strong man ruler, not the pastry) usually gets the credit for sneering at the Brits that they were “a nation of shopkeepers”.

Whoever said it may not have been Napoleon, but he was certainly French. Maybe he was jealous because the British economy in the 19th century was booming, what with factories churning out stuff …