Crossick and Haupt provide a major overview of the social, economic, cultural and political development of the petite bourgeoisie in modern Europe, a group until now largely neglected by European social historians. Through comparative analysis the authors examine issues such as the centrality of small enterprise to industrial change, the importance of family and locality to the petit-bourgeois world, the search for stability and status and the associated political move to the right. Crossick and Haupt have written an invaluable and authoritative assessment of the emergence of a distinctive petit-bourgeois cultural and political identity. It will be of interest to both undergraduate students and academic historians.