I was on a trip to London this weekend (to visit the Toy Soldier show not to run riot in Fortnum & Masons). While there i went for a browse in Foyles. This is a wonderful experience - i would say its the best bookshop for new books that i've ever been in. I nearly always find time in London to have a look round. The military history section is huge (the AWI/1812 section alone had 40+ books not counting Ospreys). I came out with a book about modelling wargames terrain and a potted history of the 30 years war (its a project that may happen.....). For second hand books, Caliver is worth a visit if you are passing Nottingham. It is a gold mine and you can easily lose an hour or two ferretting around in there.
What are other peoples favourite book shops ?
Currently Leopard Books in Bristol covered market. A nice little place that has a very wide selection of second hand books. But my all time favourite was Heffers in Cambridge.
Barter books in Alnwick
My all-time favourite was Hersants in Highgate, North London - now sadly metamorphosed into an on-line shop :'( - which specialised only in military and aviation books. Nowadays the shop I use most is the Waterstones in the Galleria at Hatfield
Foyles in London, Certainly
Strand in New York is used and remainders, and some great bargains. Good e-mail service as well.
Kinokuniya, in the Sukhumvit area in Bangkok. A real bookshop is a rare treat in this country.
Waterstons in Manchester is supposed to be the largest in the country.
IanS
Visiting Foyles is always a pleasure. Not so much fun these days preferred it back in the 80's when you took your selected purchases to the sales assistant who would give you a chit to take to the Cashier Desk where you paid and got a receipt to then return and collect your books. The selection of books was much more diverse too.
The Waterstones on Gower Street (near Euston Sq/Warren St) is good for history including military history though not really up with Foyles in range of stock.
I used to like the Blackwells on Broad St in Oxford back when I lived there.
Quote from: NTM on 04 August 2011, 02:22:53 PM
Visiting Foyles is always a pleasure. Not so much fun these days preferred it back in the 80's when you took your selected purchases to the sales assistant who would give you a chit to take to the Cashier Desk where you paid and got a receipt to then return and collect your books. The selection of books was much more diverse too.
One of my favourite memories of Foyles - aged 9-ish, with my dad- right there...before we wandered off to the Model Engineering Exhibition at the Wembley Conference Centre & I would drag him to the wargames display games...and the very small group of traders there...that's where I got addicted y'know ;) :( ;D
Quote from: NTM on 04 August 2011, 02:22:53 PM
Visiting Foyles is always a pleasure. Not so much fun these days preferred it back in the 80's when you took your selected purchases to the sales assistant who would give you a chit to take to the Cashier Desk where you paid and got a receipt to then return and collect your books. The selection of books was much more diverse too.
That's the reason I stopped going there. Too much faffing about. It was then owned by some mad old lady who treated the staff like s**t and lived in a Victorian time-warp.
Quote from: nikharwood on 05 August 2011, 12:00:35 AM
One of my favourite memories of Foyles - aged 9-ish, with my dad- right there...before we wandered off to the Model Engineering Exhibition at the Wembley Conference Centre & I would drag him to the wargames display games...and the very small group of traders there...that's where I got addicted y'know ;) :( ;D
Our club was one of those that put on the demos at the ME Exhibition. I have a photo somewhere of me at one of our games in the late seventies - shaggy, bearded and a lot slimmer :'(
there`s some good ones in soho.
Quote from: Jim Ando on 06 August 2011, 10:28:43 PM
there`s some good ones in soho.
Yeah, but I'd wear rubber gloves if you visit them. ;)
As a boy, I would always visit "The Little Professor". It was a mom and pop that first opened my eyes to history and biographies.
Just recently, here in the States, we are losing a rather good nationwide chain called "Borders". That will leave only "Barnes & Noble" as a nationwide brick and mortar. We have mom and pop stores still, but they only seem to survive in towns of 40,000 people or more.....Very sad.
Dave
We used to have Borders but they went tits up about 18 months ago.
I used to take the kids in on a sunday morning and we`d be in hours but the only thing I used to buy was a paper.
Thats probably wy they went into administration because everyone looked but didn`t buy owt
and it had a starbucks in it.
Powell's Portland Oregan.
Wish I had more time to go back, bit of a trip from Leighton Buzzard!
Ooooh Powells. Darn fine store (or warehouse if you prefer!). That place is ginormous!
Dave
Quote from: Maenoferren on 29 March 2011, 11:12:34 AM
Barter books in Alnwick
Seconded. Very good.
I'll add The People's Bookshop in Durham. Top place for those of us of the Socialist persuasion.
I can't remember its name but it's in the old station buildings in Alnwick - excellent for second-hand books.
DP
Not for military books, but for science fiction and fantasy titles it was hard to beat Andromeda Books in Birmingham. Now gone and sadly missed.
Two or three times a year we'd make a full day trip from Sheffield to Birmingham, calling in at Andromeda and a couple of little seconds hand bookshops nearby to load up with goodies, then finishing off with a nice big pizza and plenty of alcohol. Oh joy...
Military books? Athena Books In Doncaster was worth a trip every now and then, for obscure military stuff. The business eventually went on-line. However, by then I had discovered eBay and abebooks...
Regards,
Geoff.
Charity shops everywhere are good for browsing and some book bargains can be found plus the money goes to worthy causes. My favourite shop is Sharston Books in Manchester, which is an industrial unit crammed with second hand books piled everywhere along twisting nooks and crannies of bookcases. Its like going to a Narnia of books! :D
Actually, if you visit any National Trust or English Heritage property the chances are it will have a second-hand bookshop. I've picked up a few from there.
In Portugal there aren´t many bookstores concerning military history or modelling, most of the books we buy are from the internet, or in the big warehouses like FNAC.
My favourite Book Stores - about 8 years ago I visited some of my wife relatives residing in France and decided to visit Paris, the place where she was born and lived until the age of 5. Then I passed by a bookstore called Histoire et collections, amazing place, three divisions entirely full of magazines, books of military history, modelling,....did not know where else to turn I started to pile up books (but in the end I could only bring some books because I could not exceed the weight limit for luggage at the airport.
I remember that I bought "Encyclopedia of German Tanks of ww2", The British and American tanks of world war two by Peter chamberlain, Chris Ellis and Hilary Doyle, Panzer Operations by E RAUS, a book about the brandenburg division, a french book about the french tanks 1940 by Ronald Mcnair, and a few more.
To be honest i buy all my books from Amazon or second hand booksellers on Amazon
I buy a lot through the amazon route but there's something magical about exploring a second hand bookshop with a warren of higgledy piggledy rooms