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Greater Philadelphia:
A New History for the Twenty-First Century

Coming October 21, a landmark book project celebrates Philadelphia’s role as the beating heart of the nation’s story, unearthing the hidden histories, points of pride, people, places, and communities in the city and region we all love. Informed by current scholarship and richly illustrated with full-color photographs and maps, Greater Philadelphia brings to the public an up-to-date, diverse history of Philadelphia across its many dimensions.

Available separately and as a three-volume set—pre-order yours today!

Franklin’s Faves: 75% Off Select Titles!

Franklin’s Faves is a special section of the Penn Press website where you’ll always find 20 of our favorite titles for 75% off the listed price! We’ve just rotated the selection to highlight great books both old and new and spanning a wide range of topics and disciplines. Browse the list and use code FRANKLINSFAVES at checkout to receive your discount!

Announcing Our Fall 2025 Catalog!

Click through to view the PDF and browse our exciting new and upcoming releases in American history, medieval and early modern studies, Jewish studies, anthropology, human rights, African American studies, Latin American studies, political science, and beyond!

Coffee Nation

Coffee is among the most common goods traded and consumed worldwide, and so omnipresent its popularity is often taken for granted. But even everyday habits have a history. When and why coffee become part of North American daily life is at the center of Coffee Nation. Using a wide range of archival, quantitative, and material evidence, Michelle Craig McDonald follows coffee from the slavery-based plantations of the Caribbean and South America, through the balance sheets of Atlantic world merchants, into the coffeehouses, stores, and homes of colonial North Americans, and ultimately to the growing import/export businesses of the early nineteenth-century United States that rebranded this exotic good as an American staple.

Announcing the Launch of Global Black Thought, a New Journal from AAIHS & Penn Press!

After two years of planning and preparation, the new African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) journal Global Black Thought has officially launched! Published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, Global Black Thought is devoted to the study of the Black intellectual tradition. Learn more on our blog with a Q&A featuring Dr. Keisha N. Blain, the journal’s Founding Editor-in-Chief!