Introducing... and ...For Beginners book series

... For Beginners

Country	England United States
Language	English
Publisher	Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc. For Beginners, LLC
Published	1975–present
Media type	Paperback

Introducing...

Country	England
Language	English
Publisher	Icon Books
Published	1992–present
Media type	Paperback
Preceded by	... For Beginners

The Introducing... series and the ...For Beginners series are two book series of graphic guides covering key thinkers and topics in philosophy, psychology and science, and many others in politics, religion, cultural studies, linguistics and other areas. Books are written by an expert in the field and illustrated, comic-book style, by a leading graphic artist.

Background

The two series have their origins in two Spanish-language books, Cuba para principiantes (1960) and Marx para principiantes (1972) by the Mexican political cartoonist and writer Rius, pocket books which put their content over in a humorous comic strip way but with a serious underlying purpose. An English-language version of the first book was published in 1970 by Leviathan Press of San Francisco and Pathfinder Press of New York, to no particularly great impact. However, when Richard Appignanesi edited the first English edition of Marx for Beginners (1976) for the London-based Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, of which he was a co-founding member of with Glenn Thompson and others, it was soon clear that the collective had a hit on their hands.^[1][2] With a successful format identified, further "... for Beginners" titles soon began to appear.

A schism developed at the start of the 1980s, and the Writers and Readers Cooperative broke up in 1984. Glenn Thompson, shuttling between the UK and the USA, formed two new companies, Writers and Readers Limited^[3] in London, and Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc., in New York. Under these company names, Thompson continued the ... For Beginners series, in several cases commissioning new authors to create replacement books for those being published in Britain.

In 1992, Appignanesi, who had been the first editor for the series and had also written several of the titles, joined the new London-based publisher Icon Books as a co-founder, under whose imprint he re-published several of the titles and continued to publish and expand a British version of the series. This led to a number of examples where the two ranges were publishing two different books on the same subject, each with exactly the same title. (Examples of this include books on Jacques Derrida and quantum theory.)

Not all international versions were affected by the split. The Argentinian publisher Era Naciente managed to stay on good terms with both sides, continuing to translate titles from both ranges into their Spanish-language series Libros para Principiantes alongside their own original commissions.^[4][5]

In 2001, Glenn Thompson died^[6] and most of the ... For Beginner titles went out of print. In 2007, a consortium of investors formed For Beginners, LLC—they revived the series, reprinted back issues, and promised to publish between six and nine new issues each year.

Books in the ...For Beginners series

Frequent contributors to the Writers and Readers' ... For Beginners titles include cartoonists Donald D. Palmer, writers David Cogswell and Jim Powell; and illustrators Phil Evans, Joe Lee, Borin Van Loon, and Susan Willmarth. The line's most enduring titles are Marx for Beginners (1976), Freud for Beginners (1979), Einstein for Beginners (1979), and Darwin for Beginners (1982).^[7]

Title	ISBN	Writer(s)	Illustrator	Pages	Publication Date	Notes
African History	978-0-86316-144-5	Herb Boyd	Shey Wolvek-Pfister	128	1991
Anarchism	978-1-934389-32-4	Marcos Mayer	Hector A. Sanguillano	176	2008
Arabs and Israel	978-0-86316-161-2	Ron David	Susan David	224	1993
Art Theory[8]	978-1-934389-47-8	Richard Osborne	Dan Sturgis	192	2009
Astronomy	978-0-86316-999-1	Jeff Becan	Sarah Becan	152	2004
Ayn Rand[9]	978-1-934389-37-9	Andrew Bernstein	Owen Brozman	112	Aug 2009
Barack Obama[10][11][12][13]	978-1-934389-44-7	Bob Neer	Joe Lee	128	2009
Ben Franklin	978-1-934389-48-5	Tim E. Ogline	Tim E. Ogline	160	2013
Black History	978-1-934389-19-5	Denise Dennis	Susan Willmarth	192	1984
Black Holocaust	978-1-934389-03-4	S.E. Anderson	Vanessa Holley	192	1995
Black Women	978-0-86316-147-6	S. Pearl Sharp	Beverly Hall	192	1993
Capitalism	0-906495-50-4	Robert Lekachman	Borin Van Loon	176	1981
Chomsky	978-0-86316-233-6	David Cogswell	Paul Gordon	160	1996
Cuba	978-0-904613-41-4	Rius	Rius	160	1975	Translated from Cuba para principiantes (1960)
Dada and Surrealism	978-1-934389-00-3	Elsa Bethanis, Peter Bethanis	Joe Lee	128	2006
Dante	978-0-86316-280-0	Joe Lee	Joe Lee	180	1999
Darwin	978-1-84831-117-6	Jonathan Miller	Borin Van Loon	176	1982	Republished by Icon in 1992
Deconstruction[14]	978-0-86316-998-4	Jim Powell	Joe Lee	168	2005
Democracy[15]	978-1-934389-36-2	Robert Cavalier	Reuben Negrón	128	2009
Derrida	978-0-86316-139-1	Jim Powell	Van Howell	192	1996	Different from Derrida for Beginners (Icon, 1996) by Jeff Collins, Bill Mayblin, and Richard Appignanesi
DNA	978-0-86316-023-3	Israel Rosenfield, Edward Ziff	Borin Van Loon	224	1983
Ecology	978-0-906495-79-7	Stephen Croall	William Rankin	174	1981	Republished by Icon in 1992
Eastern Philosophy	978-0-86316-282-4	Jim Powell	Joe Lee	192	2000
Economists	978-0-906495-52-0	Bernard Canavan	Bernard Canavan	176	1983
Einstein	978-0-906386-05-7	Joseph Schwartz	Michael McGuinness	174	1979	Republished by Icon in 1992
Elvis	978-0-04-927011-4	Jill Pearlman	Wayne White	160	1986
Existentialism[16][17]	978-1-934389-21-8	David Cogswell	Joe Lee	192	Oct 2008
FDR and the New Deal	978-1-934389-50-8	Paul Buhle	Sabrina Jones	176	2010
Foucault[18]	978-1-934389-12-6	Lydia Alix Fillingham	Moshe Susser	160	1993	Different from Introducing Foucault (1997) by Chris Horrocks, Zoran Jevtic, and Richard Appignanesi
Freud	978-1-84046-851-9	Richard Appignanesi	Oscar Zarate	176	1979	Republished as Introducing Freud (Icon, Sept. 2007)
Gender & Sexuality	978-1-934389-69-0	Jaimee Garbacik	Jeffrey Lewis	216	2013
Gestalt	978-0-863162-58-9	Sergio Sinay	Pablo Blasberg	176	1998
Global Warming[19]	978-1-934389-27-0	Dean Goodwin	Joe Lee	144	Dec 2008
Greek Mythology	978-1-934389-83-6	Joe Lee	Joe Lee	196	2013
Heidegger	978-0-86316-172-8	Eric Charles Lemay	Jennifer A. Pitts	128	1994
History of Cinema	978-0-863162-75-6	Jarek Kupść	Jarek Kupść	382	1998
History of Opera	978-1-934389-80-5	Ron David	Sara Woolley	168	2013
Jane Austen	978-1-934389-61-4	Robert Dryden	Joe Lee	170	2011
Jewish Holocaust	978-0-86316-182-7	Stuart Justman	Rebecca Shope	120	1995
Kierkegaard	978-0-86316-192-6	Donald D. Palmer	Donald D. Palmer	160	1996
Lacan	978-0-86316-227-5	Phillip Hill	David Leach	176	1997	Different from Introducing Lacan (Icon, 2000) by Darian Leader and Judy Groves
Lenin	978-0-904613-67-4	Richard Appignanesi	Oscar Zárate	172	1977
Linguistics	978-1-934389-28-7	W. Terrence Gordon	Susan Willmarth	128	2008
London	0-86316-078-6	Nita Clarke	Phil Evans	176	1984	"A political history of London"
Malcolm X	978-0-86316-146-9	Bernard Aquina Doctor	Bernard Aquina Doctor	192	1992
Marx	978-0-846702-70-2	Rius	Rius	156	1976	Translated from Marx para principiantes (1972)
Marx's Kapital	978-0-906495-82-7	David N. Smith	Phil Evans	192	1982
McLuhan	978-0-86316-231-2	W. Terrence Gordon	Susan Willmarth	176	1997
Muhammed	978-1-84831-084-1	Ziauddin Sardar	Zafar Abbas Malik	176	1994	Simultaneously published as Introducing Muhammed (Icon, 1994) and then republished as Introducing Islam (Icon, 2001)
Nietzsche	978-0-86316-118-6	Marc Sautet	Patrick Boussignac	192	1990	Translated from the French Nietzsche pour débutants (1986)
Nuclear Power	978-0-906495-62-9	Stephen Croall	Kaianders Sempler	176	1985
The Olympics	978-1-934389-33-1	Brandon Toropov	Joe Lee	176	Jun 2008
Orwell	978-0-86316-066-0	David N. Smith	Michael Mosher	192	1984
Paul Robeson	978-1-934389-81-2	Paul Von Blum, Elizabeth Von Notias	Ramsess	144	2013
Philosophy	978-0-86316-157-5	Richard Osborne	Ralph Edney	192	1992	Different from Introducing Philosophy (Icon, Sept. 2007) by Dave Robinson and Judy Groves
Picasso	978-1-874166-29-0	Andrew Brighton	Andrzej Klimowski	171	Feb 1992
Plato	978-0-86316-039-4	Robert Cavalier	Eric Lurio	160	1990
Poetry	978-1-934389-46-1	Margaret Chapman, Kathleen Welton	Reuben Negrón	160	2010
Postmodernism	978-0-86316-188-9	Jim Powell	Joe Lee	163	1998	Different from Introducing Postmodernism (Icon, Sept. 2007) by Richard Appignanesi, Chris Garratt, Ziauddin Sardar, and Patrick Curry
Psychiatry	978-0-863161-66-7	David Brizer	Ricardo Castañeda	176	1993
Relativity and Quantum Physics	978-1-934389-42-3	Steven L. Manly	Steven Fournier	144	Nov 2009	Different from Quantum Theory for Beginners (Icon, 1996) by J.P. McEvoy & Oscar Zárate
Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy	978-0-863162-86-2	Lia Tummer	Horacio Lato	192	May 2001
Sartre	978-0-86316-177-3	Donald D. Palmer	Donald D. Palmer	160	1995
Shakespeare[20]	978-0-86316-228-2	Brandon Toropov	Joe Lee	224	1997
Structuralism and Poststructuralism	978-0-86316-193-3	Donald D. Palmer	Donald D. Palmer	160	1995
Trotsky	978-0-906495-28-5	Tariq Ali	Phil Evans	176	1980
U.S. Constitution	978-0-86316-126-1	Steven Bachman	Joel Pett	172	1984	Re-issued in 2012 with art by Jorge Díaz
Unions	978-1-934389-77-5	David Cogswell	C.M. Butzer	168	2012
Women's History	978-1-934389-60-7	Bonnie J. Morris	Phil Evans	200	2012
Zen	978-0-86316-117-9	Judith Blackstone, Zoran Josipovic	Donald D. Palmer	176	1985
Zinn	978-1-934389-40-9	David Cogswell	Joe Lee	176	Aug 2009

Books in the Introducing... series

The Icon Books series debuted in 1992 with five ... For Beginner titles: two originals (Feminism and Jung) and three reprints of Writers and Readers books (Darwin, Ecology, and Einstein). One of the more notable Icon Books titles was Kafka for Beginners (1993), by David Zane Mairowitz and famed cartoonist Robert Crumb.

After producing more ... For Beginner titles throughout the 1990s, the situation was eventually resolved in 1999 by the Icon series being rebranded as the Introducing... series, with titles starting with that word instead of ending "for beginners".

Beginning in 2008, Icon's new titles and reissues played down the "Introducing..." to the level of a series name, and the titles were instead prominently subtitled "A Graphic Guide."

Frequent contributors to the Icon Press titles include writers Richard Appignanesi, Nigel Benson, Dave Robinson, and Ziauddin Sardar; and illustrators Ralph Edney, Chris Garratt, Judy Groves, Bill Mayblin, Piero, Borin Van Loon, and Oscar Zárate.

Title	ISBN	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Pages	Publication Date	Previously published as...
Aesthetics	978-1-84831-167-1	Christopher Kul-Want	Piero	176	2010
Alain Badiou	978-1-84831-665-2	Michael J. Kelly	Piero	176	2014
Anthropology	978-1-84831-168-8	Merryl Wyn Davies	Piero	176	2010
Aristotle	978-1-874166-36-8	Rupert Woodfin	Judy Groves	176	1996	Baudrillard for Beginners
Artificial Intelligence	978-1-84831-214-2	Henry Brighton	Howard Selina	176	2012
Barthes	978-1-84831-204-3	Philip Thody	Piero	176	2011
Baudrillard	978-1-874166-36-8	Chris Horrocks	Zoran Jevtic	176	1996	Baudrillard for Beginners
Bertrand Russell	978-1-84831-302-6	Dave Robinson	Judy Groces	176	2011
Buddha	978-1-84831-011-7	Jane Hope	Borin Van Loon	176	1994	Buddha for Beginners
Camus	978-1-84046-000-1	David Mariowitz	Alain Korkos	176	1998
Capitalism	978-1-84831-055-1	Dan Cryan, Sharron Shatil	Piero	176	Apr 2009
Chaos	978-1-84831-013-1	Ziauddin Sardar	Iwona Abrams	176	2004
Consciousness	978-1-84046-115-2	David Papineau	Howard Selina	176	2000
Critical Theory	978-1-84831-059-9	Stuart Sim	Borin Van Loon	176	2001
Cultural Studies	978-1-84046-074-2	Ziauddin Sardar	Borin Van Loon	176	1997	Cultural Studies for Beginners
Darwin	978-1-84831-117-6	Jonathan Miller	Borin Van Loon	176	1992	Darwin for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1982)
Derrida	978-1-874166-38-2	Jeff Collins	Bill Mayblin	172	1996	Derrida for Beginners (distinct from Derrida for Beginners by Jim Powell & Van Howell, Writers and Readers, 1997)
Eastern Philosophy	978-1-84046-150-3	Richard Osborne	Borin Van Loon	176	2000	Ancient Eastern Philosophy for Beginners (Icon, 1996)
Ecology	978-1-874166-03-0	Stephen Croall	William Rankin	174	1992	Ecology for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1981)
Einstein	978-1-874166-02-3	Joseph Schwartz	Michael McGuinness	174	1992	Einstein for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1979)
Ethics	978-1-84831-008-7	Dave Robinson	Chris Garratt	176	1996	Ethics for Beginners
Evolutionary Psychology	978-1-84831-182-4	Dylan Evans	Oscar Zárate	176	1999
Existentialism	978-1-84046-266-1	Richard Appignanesi	Oscar Zárate	176	2001
Feminism	978-1-84831-121-3	Cathia Jenainati	Judy Groves	176	2007
Feminism	978-1-874166-04-7	Susan Alice Watkins	Marisa Rueda, Marta Rodriguez	176	1992	Feminism for Beginners
Foucault	978-1-84831-060-5	Christopher Horrocks	Zoran Jevtic	176	2004
Fractals	978-1-84831-087-2	Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, Will Rood	Ralph Edney	176	2000	Introducing Fractal Geometry
Freud	978-1-84046-851-9	Richard Appignanesi	Oscar Zárate	176	Sep 2007	Freud for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1979)
Genetics	978-1-84831-295-1	Steve Jones	Borin Van Loon	176	2011
Hinduism	978-1-84831-114-5	Vinay Lal	Borin Van Loon	176	2001
Islam	978-1-84831-084-1	Ziauddin Sardar	Zafar Abbas Malik	176	2001	Muhammed for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1994) Introducing Muhammad (1994)
Kafka	978-1-84046-122-0	David Zane Mairowitz	Robert Crumb	176	1993	Kafka for Beginners
Jung	978-1-84831-010-0	Maggie Hyde	Michael McGuinness	176	1992	Jung for Beginners
Keynesian Economics	978-1-84046-157-2	Peter Pugh	Chris Garratt	176	1993	Keynes for Beginners
Lacan	978-1-84046-168-8	Darian Leader	Judy Groves	176	2000
Linguistics	978-1-84831-088-9	R. L. Trask	Bill Mayblin	176	2000
Logic	978-1-84831-012-4	Dan Cryan, Sharron Shatil	Bill Mayblin	176	2001
Marxism	978-1-84831-058-2	Rupert Woodfin	Oscar Zárate	176	2004
Mathematics	978-1-84046-011-7	Ziauddin Sardar	Borin Van Loon	176	1999
Media Studies	978-1-84046-114-5	Ziauddin Sardar	Borin Van Loon	176	2000
Mind & Brain	978-1-84046-854-0	Angus Gellatly	Oscar Zárate	176	1998	Mind & Brain for Beginners
Modernism	978-1-84831-116-9	Chris Rodrigues	Chris Garratt	176	2001
Nietzsche	978-1-84831-009-4	Laurence Gane	Piero	176	2005
Philosophy	978-1-84046-853-3	Dave Robinson	Judy Groves	176	Sep 2007
Political Philosophy	978-1-84046-450-4	Dave Robinson	Judy Groves	176	2003
Postmodernism	978-1-84046-849-6	Richard Appignanesi, Chris Garratt, Ziauddin Sardar	Patrick Curry	192	Sep 2007
Psychiatry	978-1-84046-537-2	Nigel C. Benson	Piero	176	2004
Psychology	978-1-84046-852-6	Nigel C. Benson	Nigel C. Benson	176	1998	Psychology for Beginners
Psychotherapy	978-1-84046-441-2	Nigel C. Benson	Borin Van Loon	176	2003
Quantum Theory	978-1-84046-850-2	J.P. McEvoy	Oscar Zárate	176	1996	Quantum Theory for Beginners
Relativity	978-1-84831-057-5	Bruce Bassett	Ralph Edney	176	2002
Science Studies	978-1-84046-358-3	Ziauddin Sardar	Borin Van Loon	176	1998
Shakespeare	978-1-84831-115-2	Nick Groom	Piero	176	2001
Slavoj Žižek	978-1-84831-057-5	Christopher Kul-Want	Piero	176	Nov 2011
Sociology	978-1-84831-085-8	Richard Osborne	Borin Van Loon	176	1996	Sociology for Beginners
Statistics	978-1-84831-056-8	Eileen Magnello	Borin Van Loon	176	Sep 2009
Stephen Hawking	978-1-84831-094-0	J.P. McEvoy	Oscar Zárate	176	1995	Stephen Hawking for Beginners
Time	978-1-84831-120-6	Craig Callender	Ralph Edney	176	2001
Trotsky	978-1-84046-001-8	Tariq Ali	Phil Evans	176	1998	Trotsky for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1998)
Walter Benjamin	978-1-84831-692-8	Howard Caygill, Alex Coles,	Andrzej Klimowski	176	2014
Wittgenstein	978-1-84831-086-5	John M. Heaton	Judy Groves	176	1994	Wittgenstein for Beginners

See also

• Horrible Histories (book series)

References

1. The history of Introducing books, introducingbooks.com. Accessed 2011-01-29.
2. Our Story, For Beginners books. Accessed 2011-01-29.
3. "Writers and Readers Limited," DueDil.com Accessed Jan. 12, 2015.
4. David, Ron. "Writers & Readers' Beginners Books,", RonDavid.net. [dead link]
5. Libros para Principiantes website (Spanish) Era Naciente. Accessed Jan. 12, 2015.
6. Berger, John and Busby, Margaret. "Glenn Thompson: A pioneering black publisher, he saw books as a window for opening the minds of the oppressed," The Guardian (Sept. 12, 2001).
7. MacDonald, H. (2003), "Pantheon re-offers 'for beginners' series," Publishers Weekly, 250(51), 26.
8. Boslaugh, Sarah (24 September 2009). "Art Theory For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
9. Boslaugh, Sarah (9 July 2009). "Ayn Rand For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
10. Boslaugh, Sarah (18 August 2008). "Barack Obama For Beginners: An Essential Guide Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
11. Gardner, Jan (20 July 2008). "Barack Barage". The Boston Globe (Boston). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
12. Gordon, Jesse (November 2008). "Barack Obama For Beginners Book Review by OnTheIssues.org". On The Issues (Cambridge, MA). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
13. Yau, Linda (15 September 2008). "Book Review: Barack Obama For Beginners". Lincoln Heights Literary Society (Washington). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
14. Boslaugh, Sarah (18 June 2009). "Deconstruction For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
15. Boslaugh, Sarah (6 August 2009). "Democracy For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
16. Boslaugh, Sarah (9 October 2009). "Existentialism For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
17. Dwyer, Tom (18 November 2008). "Dave Cogswell-Hoboken Writer Publishes New Book". River View Observer (Hudson County, NJ). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
18. Boslaugh, Sarah (12 March 2009). "Foucault For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
19. Cosentino, Teri (6 May 2009). "NSTA Recommends: Global Warming For Beginners". National Science Teachers Association (Arlington, VA). Retrieved 23 June 2010.
20. Boslaugh, Sarah (23 April 2009). "Shakespeare For Beginners Review". Playback:stl (St. Louis). Retrieved 23 June 2010.

External links

• For Beginners Books
• Introducing Books
• Icon Books - Publishers of the Introducing Series