Profile Books was founded on April Fool’s Day in 1996 by Andrew Franklin and Stephen Brough to publish stimulating non-fiction in a wide range of fields, including history, business and economics, science and biography, with a sprinkling of humour.

Bestsellers over the years have included Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (more than 3 million copies sold worldwide) and the New Scientist ‘Last Word’ series, which has sold over 2.5 million copies to date. Bestselling authors include Mary Beard, Alan Bennett, Simon Garfield, Francis Fukuyama, Simon Jenkins, Atul Gawande, and Sandi Toksvig. Profile is also proud to publish Susan Hill, one of the world’s greatest ghost story writers, and of its collaborations with Wellcome Collection and Oxfam.

In 2002 the company acquired the HarperCollins UK business list, including classics like In Search Of Excellence. Profile’s bestselling business list includes The 48 Laws Of Power,  and . Profile publishes business books in partnership with the Chartered Management Institute and with The Economist.

In 2014, 80 Days, an app produced by Inkle in association with Profile, was nominated for four BAFTA Games Awards and won a FutureBook Award in 2014. An innovative maths app, Incredible Numbers, with content by Professor Ian Stewart, launched in 2014 in partnership with Touchpress, and won a 2015 Digital Book World award. Read more about our apps.

In 2007 Profile acquired Serpent’s Tail, a company founded by Pete Ayrton that publishes highly distinctive award-winning international fiction such as Karen Joy Fowler’s Man Booker Prize shortlisted We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Orange Prize winner We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and books by Adrian McKinty, Nicholson Baker, Jami Attenberg and J Robert Lennon.

In 2011 Profile Books launched The Clerkenwell Press headed by Geoff Mulligan, which focuses on literary fiction and nonfiction and fiction in translation. Highlights include Florian Illies’ 1913 and Leah Hager Cohen’s No Book But The World. In 2012 Profile bought the Tindal Street Press titles, and 2014 saw Profile publish the boutique list from Tuskar Rock, editorially selected by Colm Tóibín and Peter Straus. In 2015, a Tuskar Rock book, Seiobo There Below by László Krasznahorkai, won the Man Booker International Prize.

In 2015, Third Millennium Publishing, a publisher specialising in highly illustrated histories of schools, colleges and organisations, joined the Profile group.

Visit our catalogue page to browse the catalogue online or download a PDF version.

Profile Books is the 2015 Independent Publisher of the Year.