YIKES, that's right... on 4th July, I think. Thanks for the heads-up - been away in England and only just returned, to a mountain of paperwork. Your cheque, as they say, is in the post (just as soon as I find my chequebook: been so long since I wrote out a paper cheque I'm not sure if I remember how).

To get this thread back on topic: I suppose with the advent of e-readers, the whole concept of book snobbery is taking something of a hit. You can't flash your intellectual titles around, nor display them on your bookshelves. But one of the delights of reading classics is that you find out just how interesting and enjoyable they actually are, and why they have survived. (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, anyone? But guess what: it really is a stonking good read. And no, I have not read all of it, just bits, so put those rotten eggs down, you guys...)