Books published by Basic Books

From an esteemed historian, a riveting group portrait of international journalists in the interwar period

A leading progressive intellectual offers an agenda for how real democracy can triumph in America and beyond

Written to help the business person gain a grammatical advantage on his or her competition, "Working with Words in Business and Legal Writing" is a quick and complete guide to writing clear and concise e-mails, letters, and reports.

An original and timely analysis of one of the country's most contentious issues: the hard right turn taken by the federal courts, and why balance must be restored to the judiciary branch

An enthralling chronicle of the American nineteenth century told through the unravelling of the nation's first political dynasty

The compelling history of how Latino immigrants revitalized the nation's cities after decades of disinvestment and white flight Thirty years ago, most people were ready to give up on American cities. We are commonly told that it was a "creative class" of young professionals who revived a moribund urban America in the 1990s and 2000s. But this stunning reversal owes much more to another, far less visible group: Latino and Latina newcomers.Award-winning historian A. K. Sandoval-Strausz reveals this history by focusing on two barrios: Chicago's Little Village and Dallas's Oak Cliff. These neighborhoods lost residents and jobs for decades before Latin American immigration turned them around beginning in the 1970s. As Sandoval-Strausz shows, Latinos made cities dynamic, stable, and safe by purchasing homes, opening businesses, and reviving street life. Barrio America uses vivid oral histories and detailed statistics to show how the great Latino migrations transformed America for the better.

From a Bancroft Prize-winning historian, a biography of the famed poet, courtier, and coloniser, showing how he laid the foundations of the English Empire

A thoroughly revised edition of the classic on creativity, essential for individuals and teams who want to think outside the box.

Reports of the death of reading are greatly exaggerated

An updated edition of the classic history of schizophrenia in America, which gives voice to generations of patients who suffered through "cures" that only deepened their suffering and impaired their hope of recovery

A powerful new interpretation of Catholicism's dramatic encounter with modernity, by one of America's leading intellectuals

The untold story of the Christian missionaries who played a crucial role in the allied victory in World War II

An acclaimed economist reveals that school integration efforts in the 1970s and 1980s were overwhelmingly successful--and argues that we must renew our commitment to integration for the sake of all Americans

An award-winning poet offers a brilliant introduction to the joys--and challenges--of the genre

A prize-winning historian offers a major new history of the United States, placing faith and oil at the center of America's rise to global power

A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements

Why America needed--and needs--President Donald J. Trump

A concise new history of the United States revealing that crises - not unlike those of the present day - have determined our nation's course from the start

A revelatory account of the misdemeanor machine that unjustly brands millions of Americans as criminals

How anyone can become a data ninja

A veteran journalist describes how the cultural upheavals of the sixties rocked the balances of political power in America - and continue to do so

Prominent scholars and journalists ponder the question of why, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is more divided than ever between the rich and the poor, between those living in freedom and those under oppression.

An acclaimed British historian traces the first three generations of English colonists in America, revealing how our national identity was forged in the terrifying wilderness of a new continent.

From one of the foremost historians of the former Soviet Union, a nonfiction spy thriller about a KGB assassin whose defection to the West changed the face of Cold War espionage.

Using physics and computer science to examine why some nations prosper while others do not

An award-winning journalist investigates how scientists and citizens around the world are re-tooling our senses-and what their discoveries are teaching us about the nature and future of human perception