Regnery Publishing: Difference between revisions

Regnery Publishing, located in Washington, D.C., is a publisher that specializes in conservative books that they characterize on their website as “contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York.”^[1] The company has been a division of Eagle Publishing since 1993.

It was founded in 1947 as Henry Regnery Company by Henry Regnery, and was originally located in Chicago, Illinois. It originally had a close affiliation with the University of Chicago, and published books for the Great Books series at the University, which were primarily classics. The first book published by Henry Regnery Company was the The German Opposition To Hitler by Hans Rothfels, who was a close friend of Henry Regnery. One of the first well-known books it published (in 1951) was God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley, Jr..

In the 1970s Henry's son, Henry F. Regnery, worked at the company; he was killed in a commercial airliner crash. In the 1980s, Alfred S. Regnery, the other son of Henry (Henry F. Regnery's brother), took control of the company. In the 1990s, the Regnery family sold the publishing company to Phillips Publishing, which put the book publishing company into its Eagle Publishing subsidiary. Eagle Publishing also publishes the weekly, Human Events. Alfred Regnery has subsequently left his post as President of Regnery Publishing to become the publisher of the conservative American Spectator magazine. He still holds a seat on the Board of Directors. Pat Sajak is also a member of the board. Alex Novak, son of political columnist Robert Novak, is director of marketing.

In describing Regnery's position in the publishing world, Nicholas Confessore, then writer for the leftist American Prospect, said,

Welcome to the world of Regnery Publishing—lifestyle press for conservatives, preferred printer of presidential hopefuls, and venerable publisher of books for the culture wars. Call it—gracelessly but more accurately—a medium-sized, loosely linked network of conservative types, with few degrees of separation and similar political aims. Just don't call it a conspiracy.[1]

Regnery has published books by authors such as Newt Gingrich, former Republican Party Chairman Haley Barbour, Barbara Olson, and Ann Coulter. Regnery has published books about AIDS by Peter Duesberg (who claimed AIDS was not caused by HIV) and Michael Fumento (who claimed that AIDS was more likely to be contracted by homosexuals than heterosexuals).

Carl Ernst, an academic scholar of Islamic studies, states that the Regnery Publishing, a subsidiary of Eagle Publishing and considered by many a leading conservative publishing company, is 'promoted and supported by right-wing organizations, who are perpetuating a type of bigotry similar to anti-Semitism and racial prejudice.' For example Ernst notes that Robert Spencer, whom Ernst views as a Islamophobe, has published some of his books through the Regnery Publishing press. ^[2]

In 2006, Regnery editor Ben Domenech was discovered to be a serial plagiarist. Domenech was first accused of appropriating a chapter from O'Rourke's 1990 book "Modern Manners" for an editorial in The Flat Hat, a weekly student newspaper at William and Mary.^[3] O'Rourke denied Domenech's claim that the humorist had granted permission to use his words, adding that he couldn't recall ever meeting the college student. ^[4]

Domenech resigned from his editing duties at Regnery Publishing March 21, 2006 upon launching "Red America." ^{[5] [6]} Wonkette subsequently cited an unnamed source at Regnery who said that the Post affair gave Regnery convenient cover for getting rid of a poor performer who neglected his editorial responsibilities to make connections and advance his political career. The source alleged that he displeased Malkin by removing a 27-word passage from her book Unhinged ^[7], but Regnery production staff denied this, saying the omission was a "layout error" and not Domenech's fault.

Regnery Publishing has put out many controversial books, some of which have contained questionable and sometimes inaccurate information. For example, The Secret Life of Bill Clinton (1997), as noted in the Amazon.com editorial review, claimed the book "manages to connect the president to everything from 1997's Oklahoma City bombing to Arkansas's drug underworld to the mysterious death of White House aide and longtime Clinton friend Vince Foster, and, of course, to Paula Jones."[2]

Books published by Regnery include:

• Aldrich, Gary. Unlimited Access. ISBN 0-89526-454-4.
• Horowitz, David. Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left. ISBN 0-89526-076-X.
• Davis, Mark and Tyrrell, Emmett. Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House. Regnery Publishing, 2004 ISBN 0-89526-067-0
• Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose. The Secret Life of Bill Clinton Regnery 1997, ISBN 0-89526-408-0
• Malkin, Michelle. In Defense of Internment: The Case for "Racial Profiling" in World War II and the War on Terror. ISBN 0-89526-051-4.
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. Philosophy in the Tragic Age of the Greeks. 1996 reprint: ISBN 0-89526-710-1. Translated with an introduction by Marianne Cowan.
• Olson, Barbara. Hell to Pay: The Unfolding Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton. ISBN 0-89526-274-6.
• O'Neill, John E.; & Corsi, Jerome E. Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry. ISBN 0-89526-017-4.
• Patteron, Robert. Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security. ISBN 0-89526-086-7.
• Schlafly, Phyllis. The End of an Era. ISBN 0-89526-659-8.
• Spencer, Robert The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades). 2005. ISBN 0-89526-013-1.
• Woods, Thomas. The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. 2004. ISBN 0-89526-047-6.
• Bethell, Tom. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Science. 2005. ISBN 0-89526-031-X
• Lucas, Carrie L.. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex and Feminism 2005 ISBN 1-59698-003-6
• Wells, Jonathan. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design. 2006. ISBN 1-59698-013-3
• Kantor, Elizabeth. The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature. 2006. ISBN 1-59698-011-7

Regnery is a sister company of the conservative newspaper Human Events.

• Official website
• Human Events' website
• Eagle Publishing's website