Shopping All the Way to the Woods

This book is an incredible century-spanning examination of the origins, development, and present of the outdoor goods industry. From the late 19th century burgeoning fascination of the elite with the outdoors to the boom in surplus WW2 goods to the emergence of a modern, science-infused industry, Gross demonstrates how a confluence of factors led to the present, with an unsurprising level of racism throughout. As a personal aside I loved the section on Grace Hudowalski, who I corresponded with when I became a 46er. Highly recommend