Hachette UK
Hachette UK is one of the major British publishing groups and part of the French Hachette Livre. The group includes several publishing houses, including Little, Brown Book Group, Hodder & Stoughton and Orion.
What you can find
The website provides access to the catalogue of all its divisions, with book pages, author information and news about the group.
Why it is on this list
In 2021, Fleet, an imprint of Little, Brown, published philosopher Kathleen Stock’s book Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism. In it, she criticises the idea that gender identity should carry greater social weight than biological sex. The book made the UK non-fiction bestseller list and is controversial; later that year, Stock resigned from the University of Sussex following a student campaign against her. See also critical perspectives.
Size and ownership
Hachette UK describes itself as one of the largest publishing groups in the United Kingdom, with ten publishing divisions and more than sixty imprints. In addition to the houses mentioned above, these include Headline, John Murray Press, Octopus, Bookouture and Hachette Children's Group. Parent company Hachette Livre traces its origins to the bookshop Louis Hachette opened in Paris in 1826 and is part of the French Lagardère group, which is itself majority-owned by Louis Hachette Group. Hachette UK acquired Laurence King Publishing in 2020 and Welbeck Publishing Group in 2022. The group runs its own diversity and inclusion programme under the name Changing the Story.
Material Girls at Fleet
According to the book page, the paperback edition of Material Girls was published by Fleet on 7 April 2022 and is also available as an e-book and audiobook. The publisher categorises it under feminism and feminist theory. See also gender and feminism. The description states that Stock discusses influential ideas, including those of Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler, and applies them to practical areas such as separate spaces for women, healthcare and data collection. She argues that it should remain possible to talk about biological sex and seeks solutions that advocates of trans rights and feminists can work on together. The publisher quotes favourable reviews from The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times and the Evening Standard.
How to use this source
Hachette UK is a commercial publisher and, as a group, does not take a position on gender-affirming care. The book page is useful for bibliographic details. The endorsements on the page were selected by the publisher; critical reviews are not included. More about the author can be found in the profile of Kathleen Stock. Other publishers on this list include Oneworld Publications and Swift Press.