Context Books was an American independent publishing house founded by Beau Friedlander that featured often controversial and critically acclaimed titles from authors such as Derrick Jensen, Daniel Quinn, David Means, and William Rivers Pitt which operated from 1998 to 2004.
While developing this manuscript and preparing it for publication, Context released a companion book written by Vermont Law Professor Michael Mello called "The United States of America Versus Theodore John Kaczynski: Ethics, Power, and the Invention of the Unabomber.
Lies gave Context Books enough of a spotlight to acquire new authors, starting with environmentalist Derrick Jensen's long-form essay A Language Older Than Words,[5] which went on to be one of the company's most popular titles.
The themes of questioning industrial civilization, environmentalism, and humankind's role and responsibilities continued with the publication of author Daniel Quinn's books The Man Who Grew Young[6] and After Dachau[7] in 2001, and The Holy[8] in 2002.
[18] The 9/11 attacks and Context Books' office location in lower Manhattan created a massive financial setback for the company, which lost phone access for three months and found two of its titles released in September 2001 to languish.