Introducing... (book series)

The Introducing... series is a 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.

Introducing...

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

History

The Introducing... series, like the For Beginners series, has its 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 book 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 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. The line's most enduring titles, all published during this period, were Marx for Beginners (1976), Freud for Beginners (1979), Einstein for Beginners (1979), and Darwin for Beginners (1982).[3] In the early 1980s schism arose over questions of control after some members of the cooperative sold U.S. rights to part of the For Beginners series to Pantheon Books and the Cooperative officially disbanded in 1984.

In 1992, Richard Appignanesi, who had been the first editor in London for the series and had also written several of the titles, co-created the new London-based publisher Icon Books, under whose imprint he republished several of the For Beginner titles and continued to publish and expand a new version of the series. Meanwhile, Glenn Thompson, who, since 1987, had continued the For Beginners through his New York-based Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc., also established the London-based Writers and Readers Limited[4] in 1992, to protect his own continuation of the series. These two publishers continued their series in several cases commissioning new authors to create alternate books to those being published by the other, leading to a number of examples where the two series were publishing two different books under the same title. 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." In 2011, a second "Introducing..." series was launched with the subtitle "Practical Guides" focusing on topics within business, psychology and counselling.

Reception

Science writer Brian Clegg, author of Introducing Infinity (2012) in the series, states that, "It is almost impossible to rate these relentlessly hip books - they are pure marmite," as the series, "puts across the message in a style that owes as much to Terry Gilliam and pop art as it does to popular science."[5]

List of titles

Graphic Guides

The following Graphic Guides titles have been published or republished by Icon Books since 1992.

Title	ISBN	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Pages	Publication Date	Notes
Aesthetics	978-1-84831-167-1	Christopher Kul-Want	Piero	176	2007
Alain Badiou	978-1-84831-665-2	Michael J. Kelly	Piero	176	2014
American Politics	978-1-84046-098-8	Patrick Brogan	Chris Garratt	192	1999
Anthropology	978-1-84831-168-8	Merryl Wyn Davies	Piero	176	2002
Aristotle	978-1-874166-36-8	Rupert Woodfin	Judy Groves	176	1996	Originally published as Arostotle for Beginners
Artificial Intelligence	978-1-84831-214-2	Henry Brighton	Howard Selina	176	2003
Astrology	978-1-87416-626-9	Geoffrey Cornelius, Maggie Hyde	Chris Webster	176	1995
Barthes	978-1-84831-204-3	Philip Thody	Piero	176	1997	Originally published as Barthes for Beginners
Baudrillard	978-1-874166-36-8	Chris Horrocks	Zoran Jevtic	176	1996	Originally published as Baudrillard for Beginners
Bertrand Russell	978-1-84831-302-6	Dave Robinson	Judy Groves	176	2002
Buddha	978-1-84831-011-7	Jane Hope	Borin Van Loon	176	1994	Originally published as Buddha for Beginners
Camus	978-1-84046-000-1	David Mariowitz	Alain Korkos	176	1998	Originally published as Camus for Beginners, discontinued
Capitalism	978-1-84831-055-1	Dan Cryan, Sharron Shatil	Piero	176	2009
Chaos	978-1-84831-013-1	Ziauddin Sardar	Iwona Abrams	176	1998	Originally published as Chaos for Beginners
Chomsky	978-1-87416-642-9	John Maher	Judy Groves	176	1996	Originally published as Chomsky for Beginners
Consciousness	978-1-84046-115-2	David Papineau	Howard Selina	176	2000
Continental Philosophy	978-1-84831-417-7	Christopher Kul-Want	Piero	176	2013
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	Originally published as Cultural Studies for Beginners
Cyberspace	978-187416-624-5	Joanna Buick	Zoran Jevtic	176	1995	Originally published as Cyberspace for Beginners, discontinued
Darwin	978-1-84831-117-6	Jonathan Miller	Borin Van Loon	176	1992	Previously published as Darwin for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1982)
Derrida	978-1-874166-38-2	Jeff Collins	Bill Mayblin	172	1996	Originally published as Derrida for Beginners (distinct from Derrida for Beginners by Jim Powell & Van Howell, Writers and Readers, 1997)
Descartes	978-1-84046-719-2	Dave Robinson	Chris Garratt	176	1998	Originally published as Descartes for Beginners
Eastern Philosophy	978-1-84046-150-3	Richard Osborne	Borin Van Loon	176	1996	Originally published as Ancient Eastern Philosophy for Beginners
Economics	978-1-84831-215-9	David Orrell	Borin Van Loon	176	2011
Einstein	978-1-874166-02-3	Joseph Schwartz	Michael McGuinness	174	1992	Previously published as Einstein for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1979), discontinued
Empiricism	978-1-84046-545-7	Dave Robinson	Bill Mayblin	176	2004
Enlightenment	978-1-84831-179-4	Lloyd Spencer	Andrzej Krauze	176	1997	Originally published as The Enlightenment for Beginners
Environmental Politics	978-1-874166-03-0	Stephen Croall	William Rankin	174	1992	Previously published as Ecology for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1981), discontinued
Epigenetics	978-1-84831-862-5	Cath Ennis	Oliver Pugh	176	2017
Ethics	978-1-84831-008-7	Dave Robinson	Chris Garratt	176	1996	Originally published as Ethics for Beginners
Evolution	978-1-84831-186-2	Dylan Evans	Howard Selina	176	2001
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
Fascism	978-1-84046-154-1	Stuart Hood	Litza Jansz	176	1993	Originally published as Fascism for Beginners
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	Originally published as Feminism for Beginners, discontinued
Foucault	978-1-84831-060-5	Christopher Horrocks	Zoran Jevtic	176	1997	Originally published as Foucault for Beginners
Fractals	978-1-84831-087-2	Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon, Will Rood	Ralph Edney	176	2000	Originally published as Introducing Fractal Geometry
Freud	978-1-84046-851-9	Richard Appignanesi	Oscar Zárate	176	1992	Originally published as Freud for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1979)
Freud Wars	978-1-84046-381-1	Stephen Wilson	Oscar Zárate	176	2002	Discontinued
Game Theory	978-1-78578-082-0	Ivan Pastine, Tuvana Pastine	Tom Humberstone	176	2017
Genetics	978-1-84831-295-1	Steve Jones	Borin Van Loon	176	1993	Originally published as Genetics for Beginners
Hegel	978-1-84046-111-4	Lloyd Spencer	Andrzej Krauze	176	1996	Originally published as Hegel for Beginners
Heidegger	978-1-84831-174-9	Jeff Collins	Howard Selina	176	1998	Originally published as Heidegger for Beginners
Hinduism	978-1-84831-114-5	Vinay Lal	Borin Van Loon	176	2001
Holocaust	978-1-87416-616-0	Haim Bresheeth, Stuart Hood	Litza Jansz	176	1994	Originally published as The Holocaust for Beginners
Infinity	978-1-84831-406-1	Brian Clegg	Oliver Pugh	176	2012
Internet	978-187416-684-9	Laurel Brunner	Zoran Jevtic	176	1997	Originally published as The Internet for Beginners, discontinued
Islam	978-1-84831-084-1	Ziauddin Sardar	Zafar Abbas Malik	176	1994	Originally published asMuhammad for Beginners (distinct from Islam for Beginners by Nabil Ibrahim Matar & H.N. Haddad, Writers and Readers, 1992)
Jesus	978-1-87416-610-8	Anthony O'Hear	Judy Groves	176	1993	Originally published as Jesus for Beginners, A.K.A. Introducing Christianity
Joyce	978-1-87416-619-1	David Norris	Carl Flint	176	1994	Originally published as Joyce for Beginners
Jung	978-1-84831-010-0	Maggie Hyde	Michael McGuinness	176	1992	Originally published as Jung for Beginners
Kafka	978-1-84046-122-0	David Zane Mairowitz	Robert Crumb	176	1993	Originally published as Kafka for Beginners, discontinued
Kant	978-1-84046-664-5	Christopher Kul-Want	Andrzej Klimowski	176	1996	Originally published as Kant for Beginners
Keynes	978-1-84046-157-2	Peter Pugh	Chris Garratt	176	1993	Originally published as Keynesian Economics for Beginners
Kierkegaard	978-1-84046-758-1	Dave Robinson	Oscar Zarate	176	2003
Lacan	978-1-84046-168-8	Darian Leader	Judy Groves	176	2000
Learning & Memory	978-1-840463-50-7	Ziauddin Sardar, Richard Appignanesi	Ralph Edney	120	2002	discontinued
Lévi-Strauss	978-1-87416-662-7	Boris Wiseman	Judy Groves	176	1997	Originally published as Lévi-Strauss for Beginners
Linguistics	978-1-84831-088-9	R. L. Trask	Bill Mayblin	176	2000
Literary Criticism	978-1-84831-904-2	Owen Holland	Piero	176	2016
Logic	978-1-84831-012-4	Dan Cryan, Sharron Shatil	Bill Mayblin	176	2001
Machiavelli	978-1-84046-116-9	Patrick Curry	Oscar Zarate	176	1995	Originally published as Machiavelli for Beginners
Mafia	978-1-87416-620-7	Arnd Schneider	Oscar Zarate	176	1995
Mandela	978-187416-622-1	Tony Pinchuck	Roger Trask	176	1994
Marx	978-184046-055-1	Rius	Rius	160	1999	Translated from Marx para principiantes (1972)
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	discontinued
Melanie Klein	978-1-87416-661-0	Robert Hinshelwood, Susan Robinson	Oscar Zarate	176	1997	Originally published as Melanie Klein for Beginners
Mind & Brain	978-1-84046-854-0	Angus Gellatly	Oscar Zárate	176	1998	Originally published as Mind & Brain for Beginners, discontinued
Modernism	978-1-84831-116-9	Chris Rodrigues	Chris Garratt	176	2001
Newton	978-1-87416-607-8	William Rankin	William Rankin	176	1993	Originally published as Newton for Beginners
Nietzsche	978-1-84831-009-4	Laurence Gane	Kitty Chan (1997), Piero (2005)	176	1997	Originally published as Nietzsche for Beginners
Particle Physics	978-1-84831-589-1	Tom Whyntie	Oliver Pugh	176	2013
Philosophy	978-1-84046-853-3	Dave Robinson	Judy Groves	176	1999	Originally published as Western Philosophy for Beginners
Philosophy of Science	978-1-84046-358-3	Ziauddin Sardar	Borin Van Loon	176	1998	Originally published as Science Studies for Beginners
Picasso	978-1-874166-29-0	Andrew Brighton	Andrzej Klimowski	176	1995	Originally published as Picasso for Beginners, discontinued
Plato	978-1-84046-113-8	Dave Robinson	Judy Groves	176	2000
Political Philosophy	978-1-84046-450-4	Dave Robinson	Judy Groves	176	2003
Postfeminism	978-1-84046-010-0	Sophia Phoca	Rebecca Wright	176	1999	Discontinued
Postmodernism	978-1-84046-849-6	Richard Appignanesi, Chris Garratt, Ziauddin Sardar	Patrick Curry	192	1995	Originally published as Postmodernism for Beginners
Psychiatry	978-1-84046-537-2	Nigel C. Benson	Piero	176	2004	discontinued
Psychoanalysis	978-1-84046-176-3	Ivan Ward	Oscar Zárate	176	2000
Psychology	978-1-84046-852-6	Nigel C. Benson	Nigel C. Benson	176	1998	Originally published as 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	Originally published as Quantum Theory for Beginners
Relativity	978-1-84831-057-5	Bruce Bassett	Ralph Edney	176	2002
Romanticism	978-1-84046-009-4	Duncan Heath	Judy Boreham	176	1999
Rousseau	978-1-84046-232-6	Dave Robinson	Oscar Zarate	176	2001
Sartre	978-1-84046-007-0	Philip Thody	Howard Read	176	1998	Originally published as Sartre for Beginners
Semiotics	978-1-84046-073-5	Paul Cobley	Litza Jansz	176	1997	Originally published as Semiotics for Beginners
Shakespeare	978-1-84831-115-2	Nick Groom	Piero	176	2001
Slavoj Žižek	978-1-84831-057-5	Christopher Kul-Want	Piero	176	2011
Sociology	978-1-84831-085-8	Richard Osborne	Borin Van Loon	176	1996	Originally published as Sociology for Beginners, discontinued
Sociology	978-1-78578-073-8	John Nagle	Piero	176	2016	Replaces previous edition.
Statistics	978-1-84831-056-8	Eileen Magnello	Borin Van Loon	176	2009
Stephen Hawking	978-1-84831-094-0	J. P. McEvoy	Oscar Zárate	176	1995	Originally published as Stephen Hawking for Beginners
Thatcherism	978-1-87416-653-5	Peter Pugh	Carl Flint	176	1997	Originally published as Thatcher 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	Previously published as Trotsky for Beginners (Writers and Readers, 1998), discontinued
Universe	978-1-84046-761-1	Felix Pirani	Christine Roche	176	1993	Originally published as The Universe for Beginners, discontinued
Wagner	978-1-87416-627-6	Michael White	Kevin Scott	176	1995	Originally published as Wagner for Beginners
Walter Benjamin	978-1-84831-692-8	Howard Caygill, Alex Coles,	Andrzej Klimowski	176	1998	Originally published as Walter Benjamin for Beginners
Wittgenstein	978-1-84831-086-5	John M. Heaton	Judy Groves	176	1994	Originally published as Wittgenstein for Beginners

Practical Guides

The following Practical Guides titles have been published by Icon Books since 2011.

Title	ISBN	Writer(s)	Pages	Publication Date	Notes
Assertiveness	978-1-84831-505-1	David Bonham-Carter	224	2013
Body Language	978-1-84831-421-4	Glenn Wilson	224	2012
Business Creativity	978-1-84831-400-9	Roger Neill	224	2013
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)	978-1-84831-254-8	Elaine Iljon Foreman, Clair Pollard	224	2011
CBT for Work	978-1-84831-419-1	Gill Garratt	224	2012
Child Psychology	978-1-84831-258-6	Kairen Cullen	224	2011
Confident Speaking	978-1-84831-679-9	Alan Woodhouse	224	2014
Counselling	978-1-84831-626-3	Alistair Ross	224	2013
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)	978-1-84831-662-1	Judy Byrne	224	2014
Emotional Intelligence	978-1-84831-422-1	David Walton	224	2012
Entrepreneurship	978-1-84831-625-6	Alison Price, David Price	224	2013
Ethics for Everyday Life	978-1-84831-341-5	Dave Robinson	224	2012
Family Psychology	978-1-84831-518-1	James Powell	224	2013
Getting the Job You Want	978-1-84831-506-8	Denise Taylor	224	2013
Happiness	978-1-84831-362-0	Will Buckingham	224	2012
Leadership	978-1-84831-511-2	Alison Price, David Price	224	2013
Management	978-1-84831-401-6	Alison Price, David Price	224	2012
Mindfulness	978-1-84831-255-5	Tessa Watt	224	2012
NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming)	978-1-84831-256-2	Neil Shah	224	2011
NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) for Work	978-1-84831-380-4	Dianne Lowther	224	2012
Overcoming Phobias	978-1-84831-650-8	Patricia Furness-Smith	224	2014
Overcoming Problem Eating	978-1-84831-721-5	Patricia Furness-Smith	224	2015
Personal Finance	978-1-84831-723-9	Michael Taillard	224	2015
Persuasion	978-1-84831-722-2	Anthony McLean	224	2014
Philosophy for Everyday Life	978-1-84831-356-9	Trevor Curnow	224	2012
Positive Psychology	978-1-84831-277-7	Bridget Grenville-Cleave	224	2012
Productivity	978-1-84831-649-2	Graham Allcott	224	2014
Psychology of Relationships	978-1-84831-359-0	John Karter	224	2012
Psychology of Success	978-1-84831-259-3	Alison Price, David Price	224	2011
Resilience	978-1-84831-512-9	Gladeana McMahon	224	2013
Self-Esteem	978-1-84831-365-1	David Bonham-Carter	224	2012
Sport Psychology	978-1-84831-257-9	Arnold LeUnes	224	2011
Stress Management	978-1-84831-420-7	Graham Price	224	2014	Publication cancelled.
Well-Being	978-1-84831-796-3	Patricia Furness-Smith	224	2015

See also

• For Beginners, LLC

References

1. The history of Introducing books, introducingbooks.com. Accessed 2011-01-29.
2. Our Story Archived 2014-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, For Beginners books. Accessed 2011-01-29.
3. MacDonald, H. (2003), "Pantheon re-offers 'for beginners' series," Publishers Weekly, 250(51), 26.
4. "Writers and Readers Limited," DueDil.com Accessed Jan. 12, 2015.
5. "Introducing Evolution: A Graphic Guide". Popular Science. Retrieved 2017-01-21.

External links

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