Free Press was an American independent book publisher that later became an imprint of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. It was one of the best-known publishers specializing in serious nonfiction, including path-breaking sociology books of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. After a period under new ownership in the 1980s of publishing neoconservative books, it was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994. By 2012, the imprint ceased to exist as a distinct entity; however, some books were still being published using the Free Press imprint.

History

Free Press was founded by Jeremiah Kaplan (1926–1993) and Charles Liebman in 1947 and concentrated on religion and social science. They chose the name Free Press because they wanted to print books devoted to civil liberties. It was launched with three classic titles: ''Division of Labor'' by Emile Durkheim, ''The Theory of Economic and Social Organization'' by

Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...

and ''The Scientific Outlook'' by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, where it was known as ''The Free Press of Glencoe''. In 1960, Kaplan was recruited by Macmillan to provide new editorial leadership and he agreed to move to New York if Macmillan Publishing Company would buy Free Press, and thus Free Press was sold in 1960 for $1.3 million ($500,000 going to Kaplan and $800,000 going to Liebman). In 1994, Simon & Schuster acquired Macmillan and Free Press. In 2012, it was announced that Free Press would cease to exist as a distinct entity and would be merged into

, the company's flagship imprint. "We plan to continue publishing thought leaders and other important cultural voices under the Free Press imprimatur, while also introducing many other Free Press authors, such as novelists and historians and business writers, to the flagship Simon & Schuster imprint." During the 1960s and 1970s Free Press was under the direction of a variety of publishers including George McCune (who later co-founded

SAGE Publishing Sage Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American Independent business, independent Academic publishing, academic publishing company, founded in 1965 in New York City by Sara Miller McCune and now based in the Newbury Park, California, ...

with his wife Sara), Valery Webb, Ed Barry and Robert Wallace. Under Barry's leadership in 1974, Ernest Becker's '' The Denial of Death'' won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1983, Erwin Glikes, a well-known political neoconservative, took over leadership. This began an era of controversial conservative books including '' The Tempting of America'' by

Robert Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American legal scholar who served as solicitor general of the United States from 1973 until 1977. A professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General and a judge on ...

, and '' The Closing of the American Mind'' by

Allan Bloom Allan David Bloom (September 14, 1930 – October 7, 1992) was an American philosopher, classicist, and academician. He studied under David Grene, Leo Strauss, Richard McKeon, and Alexandre Kojève. He subsequently taught at Cornell Un ...

. Glikes was succeeded by Adam Bellow, who also published neoconservative books including '' Illiberal Education'' by Dinesh D'Souza, '' The Real Anita Hill'' by David Brock, and '' The Bell Curve'' by Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein. In 1994, Simon & Schuster acquired Macmillan and Free Press was led by publishers Michael Jacobs, Paula Barker Duffy, and William Shinker for short stints. Free Press was led by publisher Martha Levin from 2001 until 2012, when it ceased to exist as a distinct entity and merged into Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint. In 2003, two of the five finalists for the 2003

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

in the non-fiction category were Free Press titles, including the winner, '' Waiting for Snow in Havana'' by Carlos Eire. In 2008, Free Press published '' The White Tiger'', Indian author Aravind Adiga's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, which won the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

Notable books

* Carl Menger (1950). ''Principles of Economics.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press *

Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in soci ...

(1951). ''The Social System.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld (1955). ''Personal Influence.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * Robert K. Merton (1957). '' Social Theory and Social Structure.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * Robert E. Lane (1959). ''Political Life: Why People Get Involved in Politics.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * James S. Coleman (1961). ''The Adolescent Society.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * Herbert Gans (1962). ''The Urban Villagers.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press *

Everett Rogers Everett M. "Ev" Rogers (March 6, 1931 – October 21, 2004) was an American communication theorist and sociologist, who originated the ''diffusion of innovations'' theory and introduced the term '' early adopter''. He was distinguished professor ...

(1962). ''

Diffusion of Innovations Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. The theory was popularized by Everett Rogers in his book ''Diffusion of Innovations'', first published in 1962. Rogers argue ...

.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press *

Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born American sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth century". In 2007, '' The Time ...

(1963). ''Behavior in Public Places.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * Stanley Lieberson (1963). ''Ethnic Patterns in American Cities.'' Glencoe, IL: Free Press * Howard S. Becker (1963). ''Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance''. New York: Free Press. *

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, ; ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called genetic epistemology. ...

(1966). ''The Moral Judgment of the Child''. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. * Ernest Becker (1973). ''The Denial of Death''. New York: Free Press. * Claude Fischer, et al., (1977). ''Networks and Places.'' New York: Free Press. * Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan. (1978). ''The American Occupational Structure.'' New York: Free Press. *

and D. Lawrence Kincaid. (1981). ''Communication Networks.'' New York: Free Press. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Free Press homepage
at Simon & Schuster (archived 15 May 2010)
Divisions and Imprints
at Simon & Schuster (archived 23 April 2010) {{Authority control Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Simon & Schuster Book publishing company imprints Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City American companies established in 1947 Publishing companies established in 1947 Mass media companies disestablished in 2012 1947 establishments in New York (state) 2012 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York City