The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting

Rachel Shteir’s The Steal is the first serious study of shoplifting, looking to history to reveal the roots of our modern dilemma. Dismissed by academia and the mainstream media and largely misunderstood, shoplifting has become the territory of moralists, mischievous teenagers, tabloid television, and self-help gurus. But shoplifting incurs remarkable real-life costs for retailers and consumers. The “crime tax”—the amount every American family loses to shoplifting-related price inflation—is...