Dikke Bertha Posted 3 April , 2006 Share Posted 3 April , 2006 Just come back from a splurge in the bookshops on Charing Cross Road. There is still plenty of good value to be had. Bought Barbara Tuchmans "Zimmerman Telegram" for £3.95 Richard Holmes "The Little Field Marshal" for £3.95 and The Battle of Loos for £3.95 Also bought Mud, Blood and Poppycock - it gets mixed reviews on the forum but thought I would check it out myself 11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month which looks good and The German Offensive 1918 by Martin Kitchen. I did fancy it it hardback but couldn't resist in paperback. Always worth rooting in the bookshops. Better than eBay or book lists any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryBettsMCDCM Posted 3 April , 2006 Share Posted 3 April , 2006 Them & the local Car Boot Sales! In fact anywhere were the prices are cheap & the books plentiful! I love a root around a good Jumble sale,where the books are piled high & unsorted & no one has a Clue:"Books~yes; 25p each 10 for a pound!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMcNay Posted 3 April , 2006 Share Posted 3 April , 2006 You can't beat rooting around old bookshops. I just wish Glasgow had more of them! I can only justify so many trips to Wigtown in one year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 3 April , 2006 Author Share Posted 3 April , 2006 Dublin used to be a great place for second-hand book shops but now there are less than half a dozen left. Thank God for eBay.................but it's not the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gporta Posted 3 April , 2006 Share Posted 3 April , 2006 I just love the bookshops at Charing Cross Rd., but unfortunately I need a plane ticket to get there, so I welcome the existence of online booksellers very much (however, there are LOTS of places better than ebay for books: bookfinder.com, alibris.com or abebooks.com just to mention my regular haunts). Admitedly, a shop -when at hand- is always better as you can't browse a book online Gloria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 All Officers and Other Ranks are reminded that rooting in bookshops is generally not permitted, and should be saved for the licensed estaminets. That being said, there's this one bookshop in Tamworth with the prettiest staff... More on topic, YES - much, MUCH nicer being able to handle the books and browse before you buy. Also, it provides the joy of unexpected discoveries (For example, turning up to buy something I'd ordered, and finding not only "Douglas Haig, the Educated Soldier" for a song but also "Command and Control on the W.F.", which I'd been waiting ages for.) Now all I need to do is find a really good bookshop with a good military section and that old musty antique look. In Melbourne. Any takers/advice? Chris Henschke knows the sorts of books I'm looking for - but he's got them first, and I know there's no way he's giving them up! (Never, until I found an original 1913 edition of Haking's "Company Training" in the Adelaide University library, have I been so tempted to commit theft. Alas some pages were missing.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 The trouble is that everyone is an expert now and know the value of everything. Gone are the days of paying an aged lady in twin set and pearls working in Oxfam 20p for a Divisional History. Although just to contradict myself I have just bought a copy of EYEWITNESS.Personal reminiscences of the Great War and Birth of the Tank. By Major-Gen.Sir E.D.,Swinton for £2 and seen it on abebooks for £60 and my wife found an original copy of Malin's How I filmed the war for £3. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tafski Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 yep pals rooting the bookshops is a pleasure we inS wales have now just got the town of blaenavon a mini book town now just like hay on wye so guess where i will be heading fer me bargains already had a bit of luck with boy soldiers of the great war £5.99 and in mint condition first day on the somme £3.00 and in good nick looks like more shelfs will have to go up bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMcNay Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 Picked up a copy of "Coronel and The Falklands" for a quid yesterday. No idea if it's any good, but I know nothing about the naval war, so it'll do me for a first book on the subject... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAAAEd Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 we inS wales have now just got the town of blaenavon a mini book town now just like hay on wye so guess where i will be heading fer me bargains I like Hay-on-Wye but have not been there for some time now having had a downturn or two healthwise. On my last visit I dicovered an old history student acquaintance from my degree study days (I was doing maths and science Ed. as a mature) in Caerleon was a buyer for one of the big shops in Hay. looks like more shelfs will have to go up bruce I'll have to add an library-extension soon never mind more shelves. I just love rooting through book shops but still have many books to read from those I have bought already. That is the trouble with having a broad range of interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 If you can wander over to Greenwich, UK: Battle of Jutland £2 Death of an Army £2 VCs of the Western Front - 1915 £2 Just some of the bargain books I've bought forn the 'all books £2' shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMcNay Posted 7 May , 2006 Share Posted 7 May , 2006 We should set up a section of the forum entitled "bargain watch" - that way if there's a "bargain books" type shop with something in stock we can spread the word and perhaps pick up a copy or two for fellow forum members. I mean, for £2 each I'd love a copy of Death of an Army and VCs of the Western Front... I saw the paperback copy of "Tommy" in a local charity shop for £2.50. Shame I already had it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 8 May , 2006 Share Posted 8 May , 2006 I once upset an author who was very pleased with his book, which was actually very good, by saying it was to expensive and would wait until it became 'remandered' and sold in one of the bargain book shops. He said it would never happen and could only increase in value. About a year later the book which normally sold for £40 was piled floor to ceiling in a clearance shop for £5.99. Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerrychris Posted 8 May , 2006 Share Posted 8 May , 2006 There is still plenty of good value to be had. Always worth rooting in the bookshops. Better than eBay or book lists any day. There are always bargains to be had online but you just don't get the same appreciation of that excellent buy from a shop that feels and smells like its been around for 100 years. For me its all part of the experience but sadly they are few and far between where I am. Sometimes I am unaware of the world outside. The day I pick up a handful of books for less than £20 is a day that's always worthwhile! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 14 May , 2006 Share Posted 14 May , 2006 Mmmmm....interesting...in Australia the meaning of 'rooting' is somewhat different. Wherever takes your fancy I suppose...however I prefer quiet nights by the fire and long walks on the beach in the moonlight. Rgds Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auimfo Posted 14 May , 2006 Share Posted 14 May , 2006 Mmmmm....interesting...in Australia the meaning of 'rooting' is somewhat different. Wherever takes your fancy I suppose...however I prefer quiet nights by the fire and long walks on the beach in the moonlight. Rgds Tim Quite right there Tim although I'm obviously not as fussy as you and am happy just as long as I got it at a bargain basement price!! Tim L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 14 May , 2006 Share Posted 14 May , 2006 Quite right there Tim although I'm obviously not as fussy as you and am happy just as long as I got it at a bargain basement price!! Tim L. Never actually paid myself.......but I agree.....just have to keep letting everyone think I am a snag.....only way you get anywhere these days.... Tim D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 15 May , 2006 Author Share Posted 15 May , 2006 I hope this thread is not going downhill. Where I come from "to root" is to search among a jumble of things or to search where you are not supposed to search. Hence rooting in bookshops. Rooting can also mean cheering on your team or a person you support in a contest. Finally to get/give a root means to receive/administer the toe of a boot in the orifice. The original posting related to searching in bookshops. Remind me not to go to Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 15 May , 2006 Share Posted 15 May , 2006 Never mind...we will remind ourselves not to let you come here anyway...just pointing out the way the English language evolves differently in different places....keep you hair on old boy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAAAEd Posted 15 May , 2006 Share Posted 15 May , 2006 Mmmmm....interesting...in Australia the meaning of 'rooting' is somewhat different. I heard somebody in Oz call it 'fossicking' or something like, on the Antiques Roadshow I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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