Newham Bookshop logo (2015)

Open Tuesday to Saturday from
10 am to 5 pm.

We can send books by post, usually £3 in the UK.
Newham Bookshop logo (2015) The Wanstead Tap logo
Newham Bookshop events at The Wanstead Tap, Spring/Summer 2024
  • Thursday 18 April at 7.30 pm

    Sarah Wise
    The Undesirables

  • Thursday 25 April at 7.30 pm

    Andrew Whitehead
    A Devilish Kind Of Courage

  • Thursday 16 May at 7.30 pm

    Viv Groskop
    One Ukrainian Summer

  • Wednesday 29 May at 7.30 pm

    Iain Sinclair
    Pariah Genius

  • Wednesday 5 June at 7.30 pm

    Laura Laker
    Potholes and Pavements




Newham Bookshop by Pete Fallan
Newham Bookshop, Pete Fallan, March 2021.


Monday 27 October
at 7 pm at
Coffee7
10 Sebert Road
Forest Gate E7

Coffee7logo

Tickets £6 from
Newham Bookshop,
including light
refreshments

Cover of Knitting For Tommy
Knitting for Tommy
is published in
paperback by
The History Press
at £9.99.
Lucinda Gosling

Lucinda Gosling
Knitting for Tommy

Keeping the Great War Soldier Warm

During the First World War a knitting craze swept across Britain, as women everywhere wanted to kit out their Tommies with socks, mittens, balaclavas, vests, jumpers and all manner of knitwear — some more graciously received than others. Millions of socks were sent from the home front to the fighting fronts in a bid to wage war on the dreaded trench foot, and thoughtful knitters would often tuck a love note or simple message into parcels to offer extra cheer to the soldier far from home. Knitting for Tommy explores the knitting craze through magazine adverts, postcards, cartoons and photographs of the day, as well as offering Great War Britain a guide to kitting out your own First World War Tommy using original knitting patterns.

Lucinda Gosling is a historian working at the Mary Evans Picture Library. Her books include Debutantes and the London Season, Royal Coronations, and Brushes and Bayonets: Cartoons, sketches and paintings of World War I. She is also the author of Great War Britain: The First World War at Home, published in hardback by The History Press at £25.

Watch out for online events


Family lessons for
Writing and Reading Newham
available here

On the Record logo

Interested in learning more about Newham Bookshop and some of the people connected with it? We have four lessons for classroom or family use developed from On the Record’s oral history project centered around Newham Bookshop, Writing and Reading Newham. Click here for full details.


LoveReading logo

Newham Bookshop is LoveReading’s
Bookshop of the Month

We are proud that Newham Bookshop is LoveReading’s Bookshop of the Month. The article features a Q&A with Vivian Archer, which you can read here.


Thank you poster