Basic Books

On this day in 1911, 38th Vice President of the United States Hubert Humphrey was born in Wallace, South Dakota.

Hubert Humphrey was liberalism’s most dedicated defender, and its most public and tragic sacrifice. As a young politician in 1948, he defied segregationists and forced the Democratic Party to commit itself to civil rights. As a senator in 1964, he made good on that commitment by helping pass the Civil Rights Act. But as Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president, his support for the war in Vietnam made him a target for both Right and Left, and he suffered a shattering loss in the presidential election of 1968.

Though Humphrey’s defeat was widely seen as the end of America’s era of liberal optimism, he never gave up. Even after his humiliation on the most public stage, he crafted a new vision of economic justice to counter the yawning political divisions consuming American politics.

In TRUE BELIEVER, celebrated historian James Traub reveals a deep-dyed idealist willing to compromise and even fight ugly in pursuit of a better society.

Order your copy today: https://bit.ly/48NpoCt

On this day in 1914, one of the greatest boxers of the 20th century, Joe “the Brown Bomber” Louis, was born in LaFayette, Alabama.

Louis held the heavyweight championship from 1937 to 1949, defending it a record 25 times. In 1938, he defeated the German fighter Max Schmeling in “The Battle of the Century” at Yankee Stadium, perhaps the most famous and important boxing match of all time.

However, it was Louis’s service in the fight against the N***s that transformed him from a patriotic role model into history’s first prominent Black athlete turned activist.

In THE FIGHT FOR HIS LIFE, award-winning sports historians Johnny Smith and Randy Roberts tell the story of Louis’s battles both in and out of the ring. Already world-famous at the outset of World War II, Louis enlisted in the army, serving as a goodwill ambassador and promoting unity across military bases that crackled with racial tension. Yet Louis’s experience with segregation in the army sparked his political awakening. As the war dragged on, he advocated for Black soldiers facing discrimination. Once the war ended, he joined veterans and civil rights activists to fight for voting rights and racial equality.

Expertly revising the life story of one of America’s most iconic Black athletes, Smith and Roberts’s biography celebrates Joe Louis’s forgotten fight against fascism abroad and racism at home.

Order your copy today: https://bit.ly/4erEr8w

On this day in 1918, theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman was born in New York City.

A pioneer in quantum mechanics, Feynam worked on the Manhattan Project and assisted the Rogers Commission investigating the Challenger disaster. He also was one of the greatest science communicators of the 20th century, delivering lectures on physics to students and lay audiences.

SIX EASY PIECES: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher collects a series of such lectures, delivered at the California Institute of Technology between 1961-1963, that revolutionized the teaching of physics around the world. Filled with wonderful examples and clever illustrations, SIX EASY PIECES is the ideal introduction to the fundamentals of physics by one of the most admired and accessible physicists of modern times.

“If one book was all that could be passed on to the next generation of scientists it would undoubtedly have to be SIX EASY PIECES.” - John Gribbin, New Scientist

Order your copy today: https://bit.ly/4uqawSI

💐 Looking for a meaningful Mother's Day gift? These nine titles from the Basic Books Group offer something for every mom, covering groundbreaking women in history and modern womanhood, plus guides for new moms.

Save 20% on all featured titles with code MOMDAY20: https://bit.ly/4nbYb2g/

Code only valid for domestic orders now through May 11, 2026. Not case sensitive, apply code at checkout.