The Allure of Cambridge University Press

I went to the Cambridge University Press Bookshop recently, and it struck me as very special. Perusing the shop, I felt comforted by the shelves of very dull and corporate-looking book series. Many of them scream educational in a really satisfying way.

In particular, I loved this shelf of Canto Classics, these wonderfully bare designs accompanying a range of fascinating topics published by Cambridge University Press. According to the university website, this imprint aims to collate "the most successful titles published by Cambridge over the past half-century and more" and looking at these books, you get a real sense of the breadth of study on display.

It includes books like C.S. Lewis' 'The Discarded Image' - an exploration of medieval and rennaissance literature -, and Hobspawn and Ranger's 'The Invention of Tradition' - an examination of how startlingly recent many things that we consider ancient traditions are. These are immediately dazzling, beefy topics that I'd love to know more about.

The books, despite their decidedly school textbook appearance, are enticing. The sheer intrigue of their ideas is utterly compelling. And so, I like the way they look - the way they communicate a certain businesslike academic severity. You are going to be studying this thing, the shelf tells you. And I really want to. 

I immediately started fantasising about reading all the Canto Classics. Will someone stop me? No. I could do it. I believe in my power to complete strange challenges. Goodreads returns about 130 results for 'Canto Classics'. Would that be so hard? If I read 30 books a year I could do it in five. Stranger things have happened. 

A beautiful Jane Austen, as all bookshops must have.

This is just one of my dreams, brought on by the bookshop, but I also liked the extensive linguistics section. General linguistics, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics. They have it all. Every linguistics.

I noticed, too, the very blue series of 'Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought', which intrigued me. They seem frightening, but I like just how sci-fi this general design looks. It enhances that sense of unwieldiness. Yes, we have to show outer space here - this is how endless and vast the topic of 'political thought' is. Mother, I am afraid. Nietzche is going to get me.

In the more general non-fiction section - the place where people who are not attending Cambridge University might just buy a book for fun - I found three books I liked the look of, which I will reveal to you now. 

The first is this beautiful edition of Shakespeare's sonnets. I love the lilies framing the cover, and we have a shining endorsement from Judi Dench. If Judi Dench said it was bad I would have burned its pages in the shop, but she says it's good, so I don't have to do that.

The second is 'The Witches of St. Osyth' by Marion Gibson. I just want to read some witch history, but I also love that spooky image on the front. It evokes American Gothic more than anything else.

Lastly, 'Twilight of the Godlings' by Francis Young. This one looks vaguely romantasy-styled, which is an interesting design choice to see applied to non-fiction. It's not garish, but it looks very youthful and mysterious. I need to know about those Shadowy Beginnings.

These are the books that caught my eye - but which shall I read first? Hmm...