CEU Press
I met George Soros at his London house on the day of the attempted coup of Gorbachev in August 1991. At the suggestion of Oxford University Press he asked me to advise him on how to set up a university press for his new university – the Central European University. After designing a business plan, he invited me to set up a press. I hired a small team in Budapest while still running Pinter Publishers in London.
The CEU Press became a beacon of knowledge from the hitherto unpublished authors from the post-communist region. Many of the books won major awards and many authors went on to hold posts in prestigious universities around the world. The most important contribution, however, was that collectively, the books published made up a corpus of literature on the region second to none.
In 2020 I returned to the Press and held the part-time position of executive chair. In 2024 a partnership was established with Amsterdam University Press enabling further investment and growth.
CEU Press has since broadened its scope and covers issues that have relevance globally and not just locally, though still true to the values of the CEU. The Press strives to support democratic thought, academic freedom and a diverse set of voices. From all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences, it publishes books and journals on topics ranging from politics and international relations to literature and global heritage studies, from cultural to environmental and media studies, and from history to economics and law.
The CEU Press is at the forefront of open publishing, offering authors and institutions multiple open access options thereby enabling research to be freely read globally. Its pioneering and innovative Opening the Future model is a BPC-free book publishing model.
The CEU Press Stand at the Frankfurt
Book Fair in the early days.
