Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
subjects including history, biography,
memoir
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...
popular science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
.
Profile Books is distributed in the UK by
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Ger ...
and sold by
Faber & Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
, and is part of the Independent Alliance.
History
In 2002 the company acquired the HarperCollins UK business list. The list now includes works by Robert Greene,
Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday (born June 16, 1987) is an American author, modern Stoic,
public-relations strategist, owner of the Painted Porch Bookshop and host of the podcast ''The Daily Stoic.'' Prior to becoming an author, he served as the former director of ...
, and
Shoshana Zuboff
Shoshana Zuboff (born 18 November 1951) is an American author, Harvard professor, social psychologist, philosopher, and scholar.
Zuboff is the author of the books ''In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power'' and ''The Suppo ...
Lynne Truss
Lynne Truss (born 31 May 1955) is an English author, journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster and dramatist. She is arguably best known for her championing of correctness and aesthetics in the English language, which is the subject of her ...
which was the bestselling
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...
title for 30 weeks and the Book of the Year at the
British Book Awards
The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...
2004, at which the company also won the Small Publisher of the Year award.
In January 2007 Profile Books acquired
Serpent's Tail
Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...
, bringing together two small publishers in London. In 2008 Profile set up an ethical imprint GreenProfile under the direction of Mark Ellingham, the founder of Rough Guides.
In 2012, Profile launched a new list with Wellcome Collection, designed to showcase writing about medicine, the body, and the human condition. Authors on the list include Val McDermid,
Atul Gawande
Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Departme ...
and Gavin Francis.
In October 2012 Profile acquired Birmingham-based independent Tindal Street Press.
Since 2014 Profile has published a boutique list of Tuskar Rock, editorially selected by
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet.
His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...
and Peter Straus, which includes works by
László Krasznahorkai
László Krasznahorkai (; born 5 January 1954) is a Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for difficult and demanding novels, often labeled postmodern, with dystopian and melancholic themes. Several of his works, including his novels '' S ...
and Chris Kraus (American writer).
In 2017 the first books were published in the new Pursuit Books imprint, a list showcasing writing on cycling.
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...
,
Susan Hill
Dame Susan Hill, Lady Wells, (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include ''The Woman in Black'', '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' I'm the King of the Castle'', for which she received t ...
,
Ian Stewart (mathematician)
Ian Nicholas Stewart (born 24 September 1945) is a British mathematician and a popular-science and science-fiction writer. He is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, England.
Education and early life
Stewart was b ...
,
Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby.
...
,
Sandi Toksvig
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...
,
Simon Garfield
Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author.
Biography
Garfield was born in London in 1960.Robert Greene,
Richard Mabey
Richard Thomas Mabey (born 20 February 1941) is a writer and broadcaster, chiefly on the relations between nature and culture.
Education
Mabey was educated at three independent schools, all in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The first was at Roth ...
,
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992.
Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...
,
Margaret MacMillan
Margaret Olwen MacMillan, (born 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson Unive ...
,
David Harvey
David W. Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-born Marxist economic geographer, podcaster and Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York ( CUNY). He received his P ...
,
Federico Varese Federico (; ) is a given name and surname. It is a form of Frederick, most commonly found in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
People with the given name Federico
Artists
* Federico Ágreda, Venezuelan composer and DJ.
* Federico Aguilar Alcu ...
and
Francesca Simon
Francesca Isabella Simon (born 23 February, 1955) is an American-born British author who resides in North London. She is most famous for writing the ''Horrid Henry'' series of children's books.
She is the daughter of screenwriter and playwright ...
.
The company publishes all of
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...
Timothy Brook
Timothy James Brook ( Chinese name: 卜正民; born January 6, 1951) is a Canadian historian, sinologist, and writer specializing in the study of China (sinology). He holds the Republic of China Chair, Department of History, University of British ...
Richard Wrangham
Richard Walter Wrangham (born 1948) is an English anthropologist and primatologist; he is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. His research and writing have involved ape behavior, human evolution, violence, and cooking.
...
Simon Garfield
Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author.
Biography
Garfield was born in London in 1960.Just My Type'' (2010)
Susan Hill
Dame Susan Hill, Lady Wells, (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include ''The Woman in Black'', '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' I'm the King of the Castle'', for which she received t ...
The Small Hand
''The Small Hand: A Ghost Story'', is a novel by English author Susan Hill, first published in 2010 by Profile Books. A television film adaptation, ''Susan Hill's Ghost Story'', was broadcast by Channel 5 in December 2019.
Plot
On returning fro ...
'' (2010)
*''Howards End is on the Landing'' (2010)
*'' Dolly: A Ghost Story'' (2012)
*''Printer's Devil Court'' (2014)
*''The Travelling Bag'' (2016)
Tracy Kidder
John Tracy Kidder (born November 12, 1945) is an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his '' The Soul of a New Machine'' (1981), about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. He has rece ...
*''
Mountains Beyond Mountains
''Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World'' (2003) is a non-fiction, biographical work by American writer Tracy Kidder. The book traces the life of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer with p ...
Deadly Waters
''The Pirates of Somalia'' (titled ''Deadly Waters'' in the UK and Australia) is a nonfiction book by Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur about his experiences and observations living among pirates in the autonomous region of Puntland during an up ...
'' (2011)
Patricia and Robert Malcolmson,
Nella Last
Nella Last (née Nellie Lord; 4 October 1889 – 22 June 1968) was an English housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England. She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 until 1966 making it one of the most sub ...
*''
Nella Last
Nella Last (née Nellie Lord; 4 October 1889 – 22 June 1968) was an English housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England. She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 until 1966 making it one of the most sub ...
in the 1950s'' (2010)
James A Robinson,
Daron Acemoğlu
Kamer Daron Acemoğlu (; born September 3, 1967) is a Turkish-born American economist who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 1993. He is currently the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. H ...
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...
*''The Lady in the Van'' (1999)
*''Four Stories'' (2006)
*''
The Uncommon Reader
''The Uncommon Reader'' is a novella by Alan Bennett. After appearing first in the ''London Review of Books'', Vol. 29, No. 5 (8 March 2007), it was published later the same year in book form by Faber & Faber and Profile Books.
An audiobook vers ...
(2007)
*''A Life Like Other People's'' (2009)
*''Smut'' (2011)
*''Keeping On Keeping On'' 2017
Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992.
Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...
*''A Short History of England'' (2011)
*''England's 100 Best Views'' (2013)
Jonathan Dimbleby
Jonathan Dimbleby (born 31 July 1944) is a British presenter of current affairs and political radio and television programmes, author and historian. He is the son of Richard Dimbleby and younger brother of television presenter David Dimbleby.
...
*''Destiny in the Desert'' (2012)
David Harvey
David W. Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-born Marxist economic geographer, podcaster and Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York ( CUNY). He received his P ...
*''The Enigma of Capital and the Crises of Capitalism'' (2011)
*''Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism'' (2014)
James Ward
*''
Adventures in Stationery
''Adventures in Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case'' is a non-fiction book by James Ward about stationery. It was published by British publisher Profile Books in 2014.
Synopsis
In ''Adventures in Stationery'', James Ward presents th ...
'' (2014)
Atul Gawande
Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Departme ...
*''Being Mortal''
Shaun Bythell (of
Wigtown
Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart ...
bookshop
*''The Diary of a Bookseller''
Eugenia Cheng
*''How to Bake Pi''
*''Beyond Infinity''
Prizes
*''Anquetil, Alone'' by Paul Fournel was shortlisted in two categories in the Sports Book Awards 2018
*''Being Mortal'' by
Atul Gawande
Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Departme ...
was longlisted for the
Baillie Gifford Prize
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...
Samuel Johnson Prize
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award. With its ...
Specsavers National Book Awards
The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...
2004
*''Frugal Innovation'' by Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu won the CMI Management Book of the Year Award 2016
* '' Just My Type'' won Best British Book at the British Book Design and Production Awards 2011
*''Moneyland'' by Oliver Bullough was
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...
Business Book of the Year 2018
* ''
Mountains Beyond Mountains
''Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World'' (2003) is a non-fiction, biographical work by American writer Tracy Kidder. The book traces the life of physician and anthropologist Paul Farmer with p ...
'' won a BMA Medical Book Award
* ''
Nella Last
Nella Last (née Nellie Lord; 4 October 1889 – 22 June 1968) was an English housewife who lived in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England. She wrote a diary for the Mass Observation Archive from 1939 until 1966 making it one of the most sub ...
in the 1950s'' was shortlisted for the Portico Prize in 2012
*''Railways'' was Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2015
* ''
The Small Hand
''The Small Hand: A Ghost Story'', is a novel by English author Susan Hill, first published in 2010 by Profile Books. A television film adaptation, ''Susan Hill's Ghost Story'', was broadcast by Channel 5 in December 2019.
Plot
On returning fro ...
'' won a Best Jacket / Cover Design award at the British Book Design and Production Awards 2011
* '' Vermeer's Hat'' won the
Mark Lynton History Prize The Mark Lynton History Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book "of history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression". The prize is one of three awards given as p ...
The Essex Serpent
''The Essex Serpent'' is a 2016 novel by British author Sarah Perry. The book is the second novel by Perry and was released on 27 May 2016 in the United Kingdom through Serpent's Tail, an imprint of Profile Books.
Set in the Victorian era, in th ...
'' (published in the
Serpent's Tail
Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...
imprint) was named the Fiction Book of the Year, the Book of the Year, and won Publicity Campaign of the Year Award at the British Book Awards.