Richard Harris teaches urban historical geography at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and recipient of Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, he has published on the building industry, housing, housing policy and suburban development in North America and the British colonies. His most recent work is Building a Market. The Rise of the Home-Improvement Industry, 1914–1960 (2012, Chicago : University of Chicago Press).