New Press
The New Press is a non-profit New York publisher founded in 1992 by André Schiffrin and Diane Wachtell, known for The New Jim Crow and Lies My Teacher Told Me.
- Editions tracked
- 31
- First editions
- 19
- Books
- 30
- Years
- 1992 to 2019
About New Press
The New Press is a non-profit New York publisher of public-interest books, founded in 1992 by André Schiffrin and Diane Wachtell after Schiffrin's forced departure from Pantheon Books in 1990, and known for Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow.
Schiffrin had been managing director of Pantheon for three decades; when he was pushed out in 1990, Pantheon's editorial staff quit in solidarity. The press's own tribute to him says The New Press launched two years later, and Wikipedia gives 1992. It funds its work through book sales, about 80% of revenue in 2012, plus grants from bodies including the MacArthur and Ford foundations, with a mission to publish books that feed public debate on issues vital to democracy.
Its list includes Studs Terkel's The Good War, Noam Chomsky's Understanding Power, John W. Dower's Pulitzer Prize-winning Embracing Defeat, and James W. Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me, which had sold over 1.3 million copies by 2012. It also published Henning Mankell's Shadow Girls in the US. The New Jim Crow (2010) spent seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
Schiffrin served as founding director for two decades until his death on 1 December 2013. By 2012 Diane Wachtell was executive director and Ellen Adler publisher.
We have not yet written the guide to New Press's first-edition conventions. Until we do, check each book's own page: we list its points where we know them. Know how New Press marked its firsts? Tell us.
Authors
Series
Published by New Press
Frequently asked questions
How many New Press books does MyVolumes track?
We track 31 editions published by New Press, 19 of them first editions, across 30 books.
Where these facts come from
- The New Press, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- The New Press: 20 Years of Publishing in the Public Interest, Publishers Weekly, 2012 (publishersweekly.com)
- André Schiffrin (June 14, 1935 to December 1, 2013), The New Press (thenewpress.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 18 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.