Bedford/St. Martin’s

Bedford was founded in 1981 as an independent college publishing branch of St. Martin’s Press that focused on publishing English language books. Today, the publishing house leads in the field of English language, and it also produces leading history, communication studies and music titles. Bedford’s first book was The Bedford Reader in 1982; right from the beginning it was a bestseller and it has remained so to the present day. Other successful titles are A Writer’s Reference, the most successful college textbook ever, and The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing which became the bestseller in the field of rhetoric. 1993 saw the launch of the Bedford series on culture and history, which now includes around 100 titles. Bedford’s historical books include the bestsellers The American Promise and The Making of the West. Other major points of focus include journalism and mass communications. A Speaker’s Guidebook became particularly well known in the latter.

In all of its teaching disciplines, Bedford/St. Martin’s has also recognised and taken the opportunity to increase the value of its textbooks for students and teachers by offering media supplements in its software and via websites. Electronic versions of manuals are repeating the great successes of the originals. An Electronic Writer’s Reference is the e-book used most frequently in colleges. The innovative Online Study Guides in the field of history convey the contents of the books through a personalised system of learning.