Very short facts about theVery Short Introductions

This week we are celebrating the 500th title in the Very Short Introductions series, Measurement: A Very Short Introduction, which will publish on 6th October 2016. they have proven to be extremely popular with general readers, as well as students and their lecturers. They are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make often challenging topics highly readable. To mark its publication editors Andrea Keegan and Jenny Nugee have put together a list of Very Short Facts about the series.



Between them the VSI titles cover every letter of the alphabet, with the letter ‘e’ appearing over 600 times.
The latest VSI was delivered 9 years later than the contract date.
VSIs have been translated into 50 languages, including Gujarati (an Indo-Aryan language) and Belarusian. Arabic is the most popular translated language.
Certain words, such as ‘discourse’ and ‘normative’, are banned from all new VSIs but the occasional one slips through.
When their VSIs published, the oldest VSI author was Stanely Wells at age 85, author of William Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction .
There are no duplicate covers (yet!).
The first VSI, Classics , was published 21 years ago, in 1995 and remains in its first edition.
The highest selling VSI is Globalization , which will soon be on its fourth edition! When it was first proposed people were worried it might not be a success.
Someone once wrote in suggesting we needed a VSI to Olivia Newton John. Other suggestions have included coconuts and Harry Potter.
One VSI author had a tie made to match his cover. Unfortunately his cover then needed to be flipped around, so his tie is now upside down.
There are 84 VSI titles starting with “The”.
Discounting the word “The”, the most common initial letter of a VSI is ‘A’ (55 titles), followed closely by ‘C’ and ‘M’ (52 titles each).

So, where’s the gap in your knowledge? …



Image credit: Very Short Introductions © Jack Campbell-Smith, taken for Oxford University Press.


The post Very short facts about theVery Short Introductions appeared first on OUPblog.


 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on September 30, 2016 00:30
No comments have been added yet.


Oxford University Press's Blog

Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.
Follow Oxford University Press's blog with rss.