It seems that every week I read about the closing of another independent bookstore in New York City, so it’s a relief to discover a shop that’s thriving. Chartwell Booksellers is celebrating its 36th anniversary this year in its unique midtown Manhattan location. Casually shoppers are not likely to stumble across this unusual shop because it is well hidden inside of the lobby of the Park Avenue Plaza Building on East 52nd Street. However, book lovers who make the effort to seek out Chartwell will be rewarded by an old-school bookshop with style and substance.

Chartwell Booksellers maintains a well curated stock of new fiction and nonfiction, with specialization in history, art, music,photography, and militaria. But the shop is unique in the world for its collection of books by and about Winston Churchill.  The store’s name itself derives from Churchill’s country estate in Kent, England. You’ll also find Churchill memorabilia, an excellent selection of literary and history first editions, and lots of books to warm any Anglophile’s heart.