Bookmarks

From each according to his ability, to each according to his reads: Bookmarks is London’s premier socialist bookshop, going strong for more than three decades, despite constant threats from, well, global capitalism (Amazon is ‘the Starbuck’s of the booktrade’, say staff). Bookmarks (almost a pun) sees itself as a home for ideas and an enabler of those ideas in a practical manner, regularly ‘taking ideas to the movement’ by setting up stalls at rallies, providing information about activism and hosting author events; Patrick Cockburn, Sara Paretsky and Melissa Benn (Tony’s wife) have all been guests. The shop’s spacious, airy interior (replete with replica Soviet sculpture) holds a fabulous collection of left-wing writing – lots of history and politics of course, but also a small but well-chosen fiction section, left-wing second-handers and a great, thought-provoking children’s section. As official bookshop for near-neighbour the TUC, there are also many trade union publications.