In reply to saturn:
You can often pick up second hand books in charity shops for a few pence. I think I've got a copy of the climbers handbook by Steve long somewhere that you could have for £5 to cover postage.
Also worth noting that the Alan Blackshaw comment is not serious, don't buy it unless you are particularly interested in historical climbing methods. As an example of how outdated it is it contains the line "remember when selecting a climbing partner that a school boy or a woman could never hold a fall"