Tags
American Political Book sales in Britain, Book shops of the world, British bookshops, political booksellers, Toppings & Company Booksellers Ely
Toppings & Company Booksellers Ely
Having looked the other day at on-line book-sellers in the US for a list of top political books, I wondered about the listing for physical walk-in-and-talk-to-someone bookshops over here in the UK.
So I thought I would ask my favourite (if not my nearest) bookstore, Toppings & Co Booksellers in Ely. Ely is an ancient cathedral town near Cambridge supporting a vibrant market, and is home to the many who make their living in the University or high tech science parks that surround Cambridge.
Toppings sits right in the heart of the town rather than in a precinct or a mall. It is three stories of creaking wooden stairs and rope banisters, leading into sunlight rooms piled with freshly pressed delights. All this, free coffee and staff who have actually read something after they left school and genuinely love the trade. What’s not to like?
Rebecca said they have a brisk market for the subject and the first she thought of was “Little America: The War within the War for Afghanistan” by Rajiv Chandrasekaren which focuses partly on government expenditure in Afghanistan.
The latest biography of Obama “Barack Obama: The Making of the Man” By David Maraniss also had its fair share of the limelight.
“Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship” by Richard Aldous may also be of interest to us – discussing how the friendly face of their relationship was not quite the reality.
“The Price of Inequality” by Joseph Stiglitz the Nobel winning economist’s tirade against deficit fetishes was also steadily popular. And of course, Obama’s own 2 titles do well: ” Dreams From My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope“
Copyright David Macadam 2012
My favourite bookshop too, and similarly geographically distant, but love to visit when I can. Good to see a dialogue between the blogosphere and the real world of a place you can go to hold writing in your hands without needing to hit “print”!
Toppings looks beautiful – I can almost smell it from the photograph!
During my childhood in Hull (E. Yorks.) when parents took me on a shopping trip into town I’d always plead “Please can we go to Brown’s?” – book store. Never was much interested in toy shops. Out of curiosity I looked online to see whether Brown’s still exists (some bookstores are having a tough time this side of the pond). It does! Good!
http://www.hive.co.uk/shop/hull/browns-books/
Hi Annie glad you liked the Post and I thought Brown’s look good too. It’s always worth giving these enthusiastic “artisan” booksellers a shout – they are becoming so rare in these days of supermarket ware house book stores.
Pingback: The Oligarch Kings: Index 2012 | The Oligarch Kings