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

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

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