Our foray to libraries having been an abysmal failure, we moved on to bookstores. We had done our research on the internet and found that both the largest and oldest bookstores in London are located off Piccadilly Circus. So we headed off to Waterstone and to Hatchard, respectively. Readers of this blog know that I've marvelled since we got here that in the country full of history bookstores always seem to be woefully understocked in the history section. Waterstone's did better than most: it had three sections of shelving dedictated to "British History"--the same footage dedicated to the history of transport and slightly less than was dedicated to military history. More interesting was the North American section, a single shelving unit, half of which was dedicated to places like Brazil and Argentina. An entire shelf was dedicated to Che Guevara. And Brits say Americans are challenged by geography! Hatcher's, in business since 1797, is a different story altogether. It has a clubby, wood paneled sort of feel, and an amazing collection. It reminded me of the movie, "84 Charing Cross Road" if you've ever seen it. They have more than 100,000 volumes in stock and ship any book published in the UK anywhere in the world. It unloaded my wallet for me, and will doubtless unload it in the future. As convenient as Amazon is, independent bookstores still have a place in the world.
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