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Brassey's is variously the name of a publisher, an imprint, or a published series of volumes, all mostly associated with military topics, that was in existence in one form or another from 1886 to around 2005.


Brassey's in Britain

The heritage of the series name dates to the ''
Brassey's Naval Annual ''The Naval Annual'' was a periodical that provided considerable text and graphic information (largely concerning the British Royal Navy) which had previously been obtainable only by consulting a wide range of often foreign language publications. ...
'', begun by
Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (11 February 1836 – 23 February 1918), was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of ''The Naval Annual''. Background and education Brassey was the eldest son of the railway ...
, the
Civil Lord of the Admiralty The Civil Lord of the Admiralty formally known as the Office of the Civil Lord of Admiralty also referred to as the Department of the Civil Lord of the Admiralty was a member of the Board of Admiralty who was responsible for managing the Royal ...
, in 1886. This large volume became a British tradition in military studies circles and reliably appeared each year.
Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are ...
shows an entity Brassey's Publishers Ltd as existing since 1920. But the actual printing of the ''Naval Annual'' was typically done by William Clowes Ltd. By the late 1970s, Brassey's Publishers Ltd was more often credited as a publisher itself. A 1979 announcement in the bids and deals section of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' labelled Brassey's as "said to be the oldest established name in defence publishing". In 1980, Brassey's Publishers was acquired by British media mogul
Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...
. The acquisition was announced in December 1979. Subsequently named Brassey's Defence Publishers Ltd, it was a subsidiary of Maxwell's
Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The c ...
. Under this name it published military-related volumes during the 1980s, including one called ''The Military Balance'' and others produced in conjunction with the
International Institute for Strategic Studies The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England. The 2017 Global Go To Think ...
in London. It also put out books with related themes, such as ''Garrison'' (1987), a socio-historical look at ten British military towns. By the 1990s, the firm was known as Brassey's Ltd. It continued to publish military-related titles, such as ''The Lifeblood of War: Logistics in Armed Conflict'' (1991). In 1998, Brassey's Ltd was acquired by Batsford Communications PLC. But in 1999 Batsford went into
receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
, with pieces being acquired that year by the
Chrysalis Group Chrysalis Group was a United Kingdom, UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright (Music), Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis (record producer), Terry Ellis. Wright was named in ''Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest per ...
. Thus by 2000, Brassey's was an imprint of the Chrysalis Books, In the early 2000s, Brassey's was stated as being a division of the Chrysalis Books Group. A sister imprint was
Conway Maritime Press Conway Publishing, formerly Conway Maritime Press, is an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It is best known for its publications dealing with nautical subjects. History Conway Maritime Press was founded in 1972 as an independent publisher. Its or ...
. In 2005, all Chrysalis imprints, including Brassey's, were sold to a new firm composed of the imprints' managers, that firm being named Anova Books Company. After that, the Brassey's name seems to have faded away as an imprint or a name published under.


Brassey's in United States

In 1983, Brassey's, Inc. was founded as the United States subsidiary of Brassey's. While still mostly known for titles on military history, over time Brassey's, Inc. began publishing works on several other topics including American history and sports history. The year 1999 saw Brassey's, Inc. being acquired by Books International, a Virginia-based warehouse and distribution company. At this point, the US-based Brassey's became independent of the UK-based Brassey's. Then in 2004, Brassey's, Inc. was renamed
Potomac Books The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Unive ...
; the newly named imprint further expanded its catalog to include world and national affairs, presidential history, diplomats and diplomacy, and biography and memoir. Similarly to the UK branch, after this point the Brassey's name seems to have become unused.


See also

*
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...
*
University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Uni ...


References

{{reflist


External links


www.brasseys.co.uk, goes to Pavilion Books

Potomac Books

Stone & Stone entry on Brassey's Military Books (UK)
Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom