The Basics
About the Book Series
The Basics is a highly successful series of accessible guidebooks which provide an overview of the fundamental principles of a subject area in a jargon-free and undaunting format.
Intended for students approaching a subject for the first time, the books both introduce the essentials of a subject and provide an ideal springboard for further study. With over 50 titles spanning subjects from Artificial Intelligence to Women’s Studies, The Basics are an ideal starting point for students seeking to understand a subject area.
Each text comes with recommendations for further study and gradually introduces the complexities and nuances within a subject.
Speech and Language Therapy: The Basics
1st Edition
By Sean Pert
September 16, 2026
This book provides a comprehensive guide to the varied and fascinating work of Speech and Language Therapists, exploring how this stimulating Allied Health Profession draws on phonetics, linguistics, and biomedical sciences to support communication and swallowing across the lifespan. The book ...
Spiritual But Not Religious: The Basics
1st Edition
By Robert C. Fuller, William B. Parsons
September 01, 2026
Spiritual But Not Religious: The Basics is an accessible guide to the defining attributes of individuals who define themselves as SBNR, who comprise at least 25% of the American population. Topics covered include: What does it mean to consider oneself “religious” or “spiritual”? What historical or...
New Religious Movements: The Basics
2nd Edition
By Joseph P. Laycock
August 25, 2026
This engaging book provides a concise introduction to the field of New Religious Movements (NRMs). Now in its second edition, the book outlines how NRMs fit with a popular understanding of cults, and how scholarly definitions can help us understand NRMs. Introducing the reader to some of the key ...
Philosophical Theology: The Basics
1st Edition
By Dafydd Mills Daniel, David Mills Daniel
August 24, 2026
What is philosophical theology? How does philosophy relate to theology? Should theology be philosophical? This book explores answers to these questions from the ancient world to the present day, introducing the reader to the basic theories and thinkers in philosophical theology, within the ...
Language: The Basics
3rd Edition
By Andreea S. Calude, R.L. Trask
August 18, 2026
Language: The Basics provides a concise, plain language introduction to the study of language. The new edition of this classic text by R.L. Trask has been revised and completely rewritten to bring it up-to-date. Written in an engaging and entertaining style, the book features: *new chapters on ...
Queer Theologies: The Basics
2nd Edition
By Chris Greenough
August 11, 2026
Queer Theologies: The Basics is a concise and illuminating introduction to the study of this controversial and discursive subject area. As an updated Second Edition, this popular book provides an accessible exploration into the major themes within queer studies, queer and trans theologies, and ...
Public Health: The Basics
1st Edition
By Fiona Sim, Jenny Wright
July 29, 2026
Public Health: The Basics is the essential introduction to this evolving and vital subject. Accessible and engaging, the book takes readers through the key principles and themes that inform contemporary public health, encompassing both physical health and mental well-being. It spotlights the most ...
Thought: The Basics
1st Edition
By Léa Salje
July 29, 2026
Our heads buzz with them while we're awake. They can spur us to action and creativity, or to daydream. They can be opinionated or contemplative, fleeting or recurring. We couldn’t do without them. Yet it remains surprisingly difficult to explain even the rudiments of thought without confusion or ...
Contemporary India: The Basics
2nd Edition
By Rekha Datta
July 27, 2026
Fully updated and expanded throughout, this second edition of Contemporary India: The Basics provides readers with a clear and accessible guide through the richness, diversity, and complexity of modern-day India. This essential second edition highlights the changes that contemporary India has ...
Global Comics: The Basics
1st Edition
By Frederick Luis Aldama
July 16, 2026
Offering an accessible introduction to the world of comics, this book provides a critical overview of how the form and content of comic books from around the globe have evolved over time. From Tokyo's manga cafés to Buenos Aires's kioscos, from Parisian ateliers to Lagos's digital studios, comics ...
Urban Anthropology: The Basics
1st Edition
By Julian Brash
July 13, 2026
This book is a clearly and accessibly written short guide to the contemporary state of urban anthropology. It outlines what urban anthropologists study, how they do so, and what they have learned about urbanization and urbanism in the past and present in a way that makes sense to readers new to the...
Seneca: The Basics
1st Edition
By Christopher V. Trinacty
July 10, 2026
This book offers a comprehensive guide to the works of Seneca the Younger (4 BCE – CE 65), the foremost rhetorician, tragedian, and philosopher of his time who had a major role in the politics and culture of the age of Emperor Nero. It provides readers with the historical, philosophical, and ...