Basic Books

Basic Books Renowned publisher of serious nonfiction by leading intellectuals, scholars, and journalists.
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“This extraordinary book is both a stupendous intellectual achievement and a marvelously accessible guide that will deli...
09/05/2024

“This extraordinary book is both a stupendous intellectual achievement and a marvelously accessible guide that will delight everyone interested in how the Christian texts became the Bible, and why it has played such an enduring role in reading and worship in the millennia since.” —Andrew Pettegree

Available September 17! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3SycsIk

“The Weimar Republic is a byword for hedonism and excess. A new history captures the mood with gusto…For obvious reasons...
09/05/2024

“The Weimar Republic is a byword for hedonism and excess. A new history captures the mood with gusto…For obvious reasons most histories of the Weimar years are dominated by politics, with Hi**er and his cronies lurking ominously on the margins. But Jähner’s account is more unconventional, more surprising and, frankly, more enjoyable…I enjoyed it enormously.”

Available tomorrow! Read more on The Times and The Sunday Times ⤵️

The Weimar Republic is a byword for hedonism and excess. A new history captures the mood with gusto

“Robin Waterfield’s faithful, clear, and endlessly readable new translation of AESOP'S FABLES is a buffet of the wild, w...
09/04/2024

“Robin Waterfield’s faithful, clear, and endlessly readable new translation of AESOP'S FABLES is a buffet of the wild, weird, hilarious, and profound. What a joy to encounter these fables as an adult, aware of their place in our ancient and collective history and in awe of their incredible resonances thousands of years later.” —Maria Adelmann, author of How to Be Eaten

Available October 1! Learn more: https://bit.ly/4g3Kbnb

“There have been countless books written about the Vietnam War but, until now, no comprehensive military history. Wawro ...
09/04/2024

“There have been countless books written about the Vietnam War but, until now, no comprehensive military history. Wawro capably fills that gap with his new book. He provides an account of America’s worst military defeat that is not only accurate but also eye-opening. He has managed to unearth a great deal of fascinating material and to place it in the proper historical context. In the process, he demolishes many myths and clears away many misunderstandings. An essential read.” —Max Boot, author of The Road Not Taken

Available October 1! Learn more: https://bit.ly/4cGOh1G

“Outstanding…A gripping account of a nation’s experiment in democracy.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Available now! Le...
09/03/2024

“Outstanding…A gripping account of a nation’s experiment in democracy.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Available now! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3X5iD8q

Happy Publication Day to Harald Jähner's VERTIGO 🎉 This is the dramatic and consequential history of Germany’s short-liv...
09/03/2024

Happy Publication Day to Harald Jähner's VERTIGO 🎉 This is the dramatic and consequential history of Germany’s short-lived experiment with democracy between the world wars, when vibrant cultural experimentation collided with political and economic turmoil

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3X5iD8q

"Vertigo is outstandingly readable"—The Telegraph (5-star review)

Mario Livio & Jack Szostak's "IS EARTH EXCEPTIONAL? connects current research about two questions, 'Is life out there?' ...
09/02/2024

Mario Livio & Jack Szostak's "IS EARTH EXCEPTIONAL? connects current research about two questions, 'Is life out there?' and 'How did life start here?' to where they meet in the middle in a way that is exciting and accessible. This is the biggest human quest, to understand our place in the Universe. I highly recommend this book...it is exceptional." —Adam Riess, Nobel Laureate

Available September 10. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3MjhLYM

“VERTIGO is outstanding. Harald Jähner’s gift for illuminating the big picture with telling detail gives the reader an u...
09/02/2024

“VERTIGO is outstanding. Harald Jähner’s gift for illuminating the big picture with telling detail gives the reader an uncanny sense of what it was actually like to be present in Germany during the Weimar Republic. This is history at its very best.”—Julia Boyd, author of Travelers in the Third Reich

Available TOMORROW! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3X5iD8q

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08/30/2024

Sign up now at http://basicbooks.com and get 20% off any book when you sign up for our newsletter 🎉

Frank Andre Guridy's THE STADIUM "is an insightful read that emphasizes the role these structures have played in shaping...
08/29/2024

Frank Andre Guridy's THE STADIUM "is an insightful read that emphasizes the role these structures have played in shaping our country—often in surprising or forgotten ways.”

Available now! Read more Columbia Daily Spectator ⤵️

From Wrigley Field to the Barclays Center, American history and culture can be found within the walls of many storied arenas across the nation. As an avid sports fan growing up in New York City, Columbia history professor Frank Guridy dives into not only the stories within such stadiums, but the rea...

Harald Jähner's "VERTIGO is outstandingly readable. It is an entertaining map of 15 crucial years of Europe's history, b...
08/29/2024

Harald Jähner's "VERTIGO is outstandingly readable. It is an entertaining map of 15 crucial years of Europe's history, but it also functions, as the author no doubt intended it to, as a super-vivid then-to now translation of how easily dictatorship roots itself under civilisations skin. We are, with insight and elegance, being thoroughly warned."

Available September 3! Read more on The Telegraph ⤵️

An age of hedonism and social upheaval is brought vividly to life in Vertigo, the terrific new book from German historian Harald Jähner

"IS EARTH EXCEPTIONAL? is a mesmerizing exploration of life’s origins and its potential beyond our planet. With profound...
08/28/2024

"IS EARTH EXCEPTIONAL? is a mesmerizing exploration of life’s origins and its potential beyond our planet. With profound insights from astrophysicist Mario Livio and my PhD advisor and Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak, this is a must-read for anyone curious about the universe and our place within it." —Jennifer Doudna, Nobel Laureate

Available September 10. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3MjhLYM

James Traub, veteran journalist and the author of TRUE BELIEVER, talks about the legacy of Hubert Humphrey and the 1968 ...
08/28/2024

James Traub, veteran journalist and the author of TRUE BELIEVER, talks about the legacy of Hubert Humphrey and the 1968 Democratic convention and election year versus this year's.

Listen on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show ⤵️

Exploring the parallels with and differences to the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago and today's.

Frank Andre Guridy "pays due homage to great sports moments but his focus is on social changes rather than pitching chan...
08/27/2024

Frank Andre Guridy "pays due homage to great sports moments but his focus is on social changes rather than pitching changes, with special emphasis on who was kept out of stadiums rather than who made headlines within them… the stadium is still a venue for conflicts beyond sports—for social as well as athletic drama.”

Available now! Read more on The Wall Street Journal ⤵️

The setting for landmark political events and great sports moments, as well as racial exclusion and, over time, social change.

"In this mind-bending inquiry, Kelsey Johnson investigates unanswered questions about the universe....Heady ideas jump o...
08/27/2024

"In this mind-bending inquiry, Kelsey Johnson investigates unanswered questions about the universe....Heady ideas jump off nearly every page, and Johnson has a talent for describing them in breezy, conversational prose. This is perfect for anyone..."

Available October 15. Read more on Publishers Weekly ⤵️

In this mind-bending inquiry, Johnson (Constellations for Kids), an astronomy professor at the University of Virginia, investiga...

Hugh Wilford's THE CIA is “an excellent and very readable history of the CIA” Available now! Read more on TheArticle ⤵️
08/26/2024

Hugh Wilford's THE CIA is “an excellent and very readable history of the CIA”

Available now! Read more on TheArticle ⤵️

At the 1983 Epsom Derby (Teenoso by three lengths, US-bred, English-trained, Lester Piggott’s ninth Derby victory) I ...

“Deeply researched…Frank Andre Guridy's THE STADIUM is a work of social history, about the interaction of people, places...
08/26/2024

“Deeply researched…Frank Andre Guridy's THE STADIUM is a work of social history, about the interaction of people, places and ideas, segregation both legal and de facto, mingling and isolation, money and power. This is a series of vivid scenes that add up to a big picture….THE STADIUM maintains a grasp on the stadium as an idea, and an ideal.”

Available now! Read more on Los Angeles Times ⤵️

The new book 'The Stadium' chronicles the interaction of people, places and ideas, segregation both legal and de facto, mingling and isolation, money and power.

Peter Sarris' JUSTINIAN "is a substantial biography, readable, well-balanced and thorough. I doubt it will be bettered f...
08/22/2024

Peter Sarris' JUSTINIAN "is a substantial biography, readable, well-balanced and thorough. I doubt it will be bettered for a long time."

Read more on Classics for All ⤵️

Basic Books (2023) h/b 544pp £30 (ISBN ‎9781529365382) Rome had few really long-lived emperors. Many died early, often at the hands of their successors or would-be successors. But three who did stamp their own longer mark on time were Augustus (40 years), Theodosius II (42), and Justinian, the su...

“Maurice Isserman is one of the pre-eminent historians of the American left, having previously authored a history of the...
08/22/2024

“Maurice Isserman is one of the pre-eminent historians of the American left, having previously authored a history of the U.S. Communist Party (CPUSA) during World War II, a biography of DSA founder Michael Harrington, and Dorothy Healey’s memoirs, for which he provided commentary. His new history, REDS, provides a lucid, succinct, yet comprehensive history of the party, at once sympathetic and scathingly critical, as befits such a bewilderingly contradictory institution and mindset.”

Read more on The American Prospect ⤵️

Maurice Isserman’s history of American communism documents both its achievements and its fatal obeisance to Soviet doctrines.

Robin Reames' THE ANCIENT ART OF THINKING FOR YOURSELF is “not only accessible but engaging...this timely book may even ...
08/21/2024

Robin Reames' THE ANCIENT ART OF THINKING FOR YOURSELF is “not only accessible but engaging...this timely book may even prove transformative.”

Read more on Winnipeg Free Press ⤵️

Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada

Yuval Levin's AMERICAN COVENANT "has laid out both the best explanation and most able defense of the basic American poli...
08/21/2024

Yuval Levin's AMERICAN COVENANT "has laid out both the best explanation and most able defense of the basic American political order I have ever read...soberly and lucidly explicates the basic theory that underlies our constitutional order and the various goods it produces...”

Read more on Front Porch Republic ⤵️

We cannot give into the temptation of thinking that our times are so different that basic civility must be cast aside. Once we have done that, we are lost.

We're thrilled to celebrate the release of Frank Andre Guridy's THE STADIUM 🏟️ The "deep and impactful" story of the Ame...
08/20/2024

We're thrilled to celebrate the release of Frank Andre Guridy's THE STADIUM 🏟️ The "deep and impactful" story of the American stadium (Howard Bryant, author of Full Dissidence)—from the first wooden ballparks to today’s glass and steel mega-arenas—revealing how it has made, and remade, American life.

“Valuable for its insights"—Publishers Weekly

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4e6groV

Eugene Rogan's THE DAMASCUS EVENTS is “a highly readable, indeed forensic analysis of the 1860 Damascus Events….”Read mo...
08/19/2024

Eugene Rogan's THE DAMASCUS EVENTS is “a highly readable, indeed forensic analysis of the 1860 Damascus Events….”

Read more on Literary Review ⤵️

Diana Darke: Syria Ablaze - The Damascus Events: The 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World by Eugene Rogan

Lauren E. Oakes' TREEKEEPERS “blends first-person reporting and ecology to winning effect… Readers will come away with a...
08/19/2024

Lauren E. Oakes' TREEKEEPERS “blends first-person reporting and ecology to winning effect… Readers will come away with a comprehensive understanding of what trees can and can’t do for the environment.”

Available November 12. Read more on Publishers Weekly ⤵️

In this sturdy report, conservation scientist Oakes (In Search of the Canary Tree) studies how ecologists use trees to fight cli...

“Almost every page—almost every paragraph—fizzes with facts, allusions, speculations, tidbits of etymology and gems of h...
08/15/2024

“Almost every page—almost every paragraph—fizzes with facts, allusions, speculations, tidbits of etymology and gems of historical interest.”

Read The Wall Street Journal's review of Adam Smyth's THE BOOK-MAKERS ⤵️

Making books was once both laborious and noisome, involving hot animal glue and boiling cauldrons. Still, the books could be beautiful.

Jeff Jarvis' THE WEB WE WEAVE is “a nostalgic bid for a return to a more open, more diverse, and less commodified intern...
08/15/2024

Jeff Jarvis' THE WEB WE WEAVE is “a nostalgic bid for a return to a more open, more diverse, and less commodified internet.”

Available October 8. Read more on Kirkus Reviews ⤵️

A nostalgic bid for a return to a more open, more diverse, and less commodified internet.

Maurice Isserman's REDS is a “well-written and superb history of the American Communist Party is a fresh assessment that...
08/14/2024

Maurice Isserman's REDS is a “well-written and superb history of the American Communist Party is a fresh assessment that will force many who have previously studied the party to revise some views.”

Available now! Read more on The Bulwark ⤵️

Plus: One historian’s about-face on the Communist record.

Kelsey Johnson's INTO THE UNKNOWN is a “mind-bending inquiry…. Heady ideas jump off nearly every page, and Johnson has a...
08/14/2024

Kelsey Johnson's INTO THE UNKNOWN is a “mind-bending inquiry…. Heady ideas jump off nearly every page, and Johnson has a talent for describing them in breezy, conversational prose. This is perfect for anyone who enjoyed Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.”

Available October 15. Read more on Publishers Weekly ⤵️

In this mind-bending inquiry, Johnson (Constellations for Kids), an astronomy professor at the University of Virginia, investiga...

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