Columbia Global Reports (CGR) is marking its 10th anniversary this fall with the launch of Forerunners, a new series that resurrects century-old works of investigative journalism and social analysis with the aim of historically significant but overlooked texts back into print and positioning them as relevant commentary for today's readers.

"These texts, once forgotten or underexplored, remain strikingly relevant today, offering historical insights that challenge contemporary perspectives and reaffirm the power of journalism to shape the world," Nick Lemann, director of press, told PW.

The series launches in September with four titles: Elizabeth L. Banks's Campaigns of Curiosity (1894), which explores domestic and factory work through undercover reporting; Richard Harding Davis's Cuba in War Time (1897), which documents Cuba's struggle for independence; Kelly Miller's Race Adjustment (1908), which examines Black American experiences at the century's turn; and Walter Lippmann's Drift and Mastery (1914), which presents progressive social theory.

Each reprint includes a new introduction by prominent figures in journalism and academia, including NYU professor emerita Brooke Kroeger, war correspondent Peter Maass, and Luce Foundation president Jonathan Scott Holloway.

In the last decade, CGR has carved out a niche publishing mid-length nonfiction books that explore global themes overlooked by mainstream press. In all, the publisher has put out 56 books that occupy a distinctive space between magazine articles and traditional books, ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 words.

Lemann said the format emerged from his experience as dean of Columbia Journalism School for 10 years, a role in which he "started commissioning reports on what's happening in journalism." The global perspective mandate came from former Columbia president Lee Bollinger, who served on the Washington Post Company board and watched the newspaper eliminate overseas bureaus. "[Bollinger] then came to me and said, you know, there's a gap here that we have to fill," Lemann recalled. "The conventional commercial presses were leaving what should be part of their core mission, which is bringing the world to readers."

Today, CGR distributes through PGW and operates as a nonprofit associated with but not funded by Columbia Journalism School.

The press's bestselling titles include The Populist Explosion by John B. Judis, which has sold over 50,000 copies since being published two weeks before Donald Trump's 2016 election. "The book came out at a moment when people were just thinking 'what just happened' and the book took off," Lemann said.

Its other bestseller, The Curse of Bigness by Columbia Law professor Tim Wu, addressed antitrust issues before they became mainstream concerns, and sold more than 30,000 copies. "Tim had never written about antitrust before," Lemann said. "It was an idea whose time had come." Wu later became the Biden administration's White House antitrust advisor.

"Both populism and antitrust were stories that were not in the heads of most of the national press," Lemann said, noting that part of the mission of the press is to stay out in front of the national dialog.

The publisher has also focused on popular culture outside American influence, challenging assumptions about cultural hegemony and globalization. Fatima Bhutto's New Kings of the World explored the connections between K-pop, Turkish soap operas, and Bollywood, while Megan Walsh's The Subplot explored China's heretofore hidden literary landscape and what is revealed about the country's state of mind.

Unlike traditional publishers, CGR pays reporting expenses and fact-checks all books—practices inherited from magazine publishing. CGR publisher Jaime Leifer said the fact-checking sets them apart in the current media environment. "Books have a legitimacy and factuality that a lot of other formats don't," Leifer said. "We really try very hard to make sure all our books are highly researched, well sourced."

CGR typically moves from contract to publication in 18 months, faster than traditional publishers, while allowing time for proper marketing. "At first, I wanted to publish faster," Lemann said, "I didn't understand fully when we started that you need about six months just to build attention for a book, but now I do."

The team is rounded out by editor Jimmy So, marketing director Allison Finkel, and development director Tulsi Joshi. Other roles are outsourced. "There's just this wonderful ecosystem of vendors in publishing," Lemann said. "That's what enables us to punch above our weight as a normal trade publisher, even though we're so tiny."

Overall, Lemann said, the "tiny" press has exceeded expectations. "Most things in life don't go as well as you think they'll go," he said. "This particular thing has gone much better than I thought it would go."

CGR's upcoming fall list includes, The Fall of Affirmative Action: Race, the Supreme Court, and the Future of Higher Education by Justin Driver, Why Live: How Suicide Becomes an Epidemic by Helen C. Epstein, Sonia Faleiro's The Robe and the Sword, andThe Web Beneath the Waves: The Fragile Cables that Connect Our World by Samanth Subramanian.