The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

Our collective notion of the city and country is irresistibly powerful. The city as the seat of enlightenment, sophistication, power and greed is positioned in profound contrast to an innocent, peaceful, backward countryside. Examining literature since the 16th century, Raymond Williams traces the development of our conceptions of these two traditional poles of life. His groundbreaking study casts the country and city as central symbols for the social and economic changes associated with capitalist development.