In Paris it has a sister company, Éditions Thames & Hudson, and a subsidiary called Interart which distributes English-language books.

The publishing company was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath, who aimed to make the world of art and the research of top scholars available to a wider public.

[5] Wishing to take book packaging and international publication further,[5] and recognizing the need to defray the high production costs of illustrated books, in 1949 Neurath established his own publishing house, establishing offices in London and New York, and named the company Thames & Hudson to indicate it would publish in both British and North American markets, with reference to the River Thames and the Hudson River.

[6] Neurath's stated intention with his new publishing company was to create a "museum without walls", a way of bringing art to the masses at a price they could afford.

Other major series have included Ancient People and Places, edited by archaeologist Glyn Daniel, which eventually included over 100 titles, and the large-format Great Civilizations series, published from 1961, featuring contributions by Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, John Julius Norwich and others.