Cambridge University Press (known colloquially as CUP) is a
publisher given a
Royal Charter by
Henry VIII in
1534, and one of the two
privileged presses (the other being
Oxford University Press). It published its first book in
1584, and has published at least one book every year since then, making it the oldest publishing and printing house in the world. It is both an academic and educational
publishing house, a printing factory, and the printer for official documents for the
University of Cambridge. Authors published by Cambridge have included
John Milton,
William Harvey,
Isaac Newton,
Brian J. Ford and
Stephen Hawking. CUP was first exempted from UK Corporation Tax in 1976 (for history, see http://www.akme.btinternet.co.uk/Apdx5.html).
The Press is now a global organisation with a regional structure operating in the
Americas, in
UK/
Europe/
Middle-East/
Africa, and in
Asia-
Pacific. Headquartered in Cambridge UK, the company has warehousing centres in
Cambridge,
New York,
Melbourne,
Madrid,
Cape Town,
São Paulo and
Singapore, with offices and agents in many other countries. Its publishing output includes major ELT courses; tertiary
textbooks and
monographs; scientific and medical reference; professional lists in
law,
management and
engineering; educational coursebooks; and
e-learning materials for schools via the Cambridge-
Hitachi joint venture. Its publications are aimed at markets worldwide, at all levels from primary school to postgraduate and professional. The Press also publishes
Bibles,
prayer books, and some 200
academic journals. It has 25,000 authors in 116 countries and issues between 1,500 and 2,000 new titles a year.
Controversy over the publication ''Alms for Jihad''
Recently, Cambridge University Press has been involved in a controversy as a result of its decision to destroy all remaining copies of its 2006 book, Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World, by Burr and Collins, as part of a settlement of lawsuit brought by Saudi billionaire
Khalid bin Mahfouz. Cambridge's justification of its actions may be read at http://www.thebookseller.com/blogs/43397-why-cup-acted-responsibly.html. Critics concerned about freedom of speech and the strictness of English libel laws have made their case at e.g. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/43128-bonus-books-criticises-cup--.html and http://www.complete-review.com/saloon/index.htm#zs2. Additional criticism can be found at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/16/yaleup . The
American Library Association issued a recommendation to libraries still holding Alms for Jihad: "Given the intense interest in the book, and the desire of readers to learn about the controversy first hand, we recommend that U.S. libraries keep the book available for their users." According to an article in the October 7, 2007,
New York Times Book Review, an American Congressman, Frank R. Wolf, described Cambridge's settlement as "basically a
book burning." Neither of the authors, J. Millard Burr and Robert O. Collins, joined the apology. Both American writers and U.S. citizens, they stand by their scholarship. "We refused to be a party to the settlement," says Collins, a professor emeritus of history at the University of California-Santa Barbara. "I'm not going to recant on something just from the threat of a billionaire Saudi sheikh." What's more, he adds, "I think I'm a damn good historian."