Pathfinder Bookshop

1988 — 2005
47 The Cut, London, SE1 8LL
2005 — Closed
120 Bethnal Green Road, E2 6DG

Pathfinder Bookshop - located at 47 The Cut, London, SE1 8LL - was a Trotskyist establishment that originally operated on a part-time basis with irregular opening hours. It was connected to a US publisher, Pathfinder Press. The UK wing was called the Communist League.

In February 2005, the bookshop relocated to the first floor at 120 Bethnal Green Road, E2 6DG, near the junction with Brick Lane.

With a stock of 2,500 titles, the bookshop specialised in Marxist classics, Cuba, Latin America, Africa, Ireland, labour history, the American labour movement, Black struggle, and feminism. It offered a selection of books in various languages, including Spanish, Turkish, French, Farsi, Swedish, and Asian languages.

Source:

Radical Bookshops Listing, Radical Bookshop History Project (November 2023) [Available online here, accessed 3.7.2025]

The Radical Bookseller, Issue 75, 1991

Randomness Guide to London [Online, https://london.randomness.org.uk/wiki.cgi?Pathfinder_Books,_E2_6DG, accessed 3.7.2025]