50 best specialist bookshops in the UK

Believe it or not, there are still people who visit bookshops not for the quality of their coffee or the comfort of their sofas, but for the specially selected stock and well-informed staff. Robert Webb and his panel of experts browsed until long past closing time




Pick and click for details


Lifestyle and Esoteric
Watkins Books
Sportspages
Books For Cooks
Inner Bookshop
Motor Books
Garden Books
The PC Bookshop
Boutle & King
Atlantis Bookshop
High Stakes


Political and Science
Politico's Bookstore And Coffeehouse
Karnac Books
Bookmarks
The Building Centre Bookshop
Skoob Books
Judd Books
Intermediate Technology
The Economist Shop
The Oxfam Bookshop
J G Natural History Books



The panel

Bill Godber is managing director of Turnaround, which provides marketing for independent publishers. David Hicks is chief executive of BTBS The Book Trade Charity, which runs a support helpline (0808 100 2304) for those in the book trade. Douglas McCabe is a web publisher and former bookshop news editor for The Bookseller. Publisher and bookseller Ion Mills runs No Exit, an independent crime publisher. Lesley Reader is a travel writer and the author of Book Lovers' London (Metro Publications 1999). Suzie Feay is literary editor of the Independent on Sunday.
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