Sarah Caro to lead Basic Books UK

John Murray Press has appointed Sarah Caro as publishing director of the newly created UK arm of Basic Books.

Currently a global editorial director at Princeton University Press UK, Caro will take up the new position in April, leading commissioning for the new Basic Books UK list. She will report to John Murray Press m.d. Nick Davies, and collaborate with Lara Heimert, publisher at Basic Books US, and her editorial colleagues in New York. She will also join the John Murray Press Board.

JMP welcomed Caro to the role as someone who brings with them "a wealth of knowledge" following more than 20 years’ editorial experience within university presses and publishers, serving academic communities and trade markets, both in the UK and internationally.

At Princeton University Press UK, Caro leads a team of six, sits on the global management team, and has responsibility for Princeton’s publishing across Economics and the Social Sciences. She has previously worked at Wiley, Profile Books and Oxford University Press, and is also currently a non-executive director of David Fickling Books. While at PUP, she has published a number of high-profile titles including Nobel Laureate Jean Tirole’s Economics for the Common Good, Capitalism Without Capital, and Diane Coyle's Market, States and People. She has also been the editorial lead on PUP’s Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Basic Books UK is the new non-fiction imprint of John Murray Press—Hachette UK’s "serious and specialist" non-fiction division. The UK imprint will collaborate closely with its US counterpart, according to JMP, to publish “major new works by influential leading experts on both sides of the Atlantic”. Founded in 1950, Basic Books specialises in books in history, science, sociology, psychology, politics, and current affairs and has published authors including Niall Ferguson, Sigmund Freud and Timothy Snyder. It celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.

John Murray Press m.d Davies said: "I am delighted to welcome Sarah to the team. She brings a wealth of ideas, contacts, subject knowledge and publishing experience. We’ve already received incredible support from agents and the wider publishing community to the news about Basic Books UK, and the potential for the list feels even greater with Sarah now at the helm."

Caro added: "While I am sad to leave my wonderful colleagues at PUP, I am absolutely thrilled to have this opportunity to work with my new colleagues at Basic Books and John Murray to create a new list that reflects the intellectual richness of Basic Books US and publish books that seek to inform, challenge and inspire through the power of their stories."

Director of Princeton University Press, Christie Henry said: "Sarah Caro is an incredible publisher and colleague, and we know how fortunate Basic is to have her intelligence guiding this new UK endeavour. Sarah has shaped Princeton’s global publishing in myriad and enduring ways, from her editorial vision to her intrepid journeys in search of the most impactful scholarly books and authors. We look forward to enjoying and learning from her publishing successes in the years ahead."