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White Nights
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Have you ever wondered why that 13-digit number on the back of a book costs $125 in the United States but is completely free in Canada and India? This book, The Global ISBN Handbook, is your 2025 guide to the International Standard Book Number. It explains everything about this global "fingerprint" for books. The ISBN is the most important cornerstone of the publishing industry. It started as a simple warehouse tool in the 1960s. Now, it is a complex digital identifier used in over 200 countries. This handbook deconstructs the entire system. It uses 15 distinct national case studies to do this. You will learn how the old 10-digit system changed to the new 13-digit one. We break down the five parts of the ISBN, from the "Bookland" prefix to the final check digit. The book explores the global governance framework, starting with the International ISBN Agency. Then, it dives deep into how different countries run their systems. You'll see the privatized, high-cost model in the United States. You'll compare it to Canada's free, government-run system. We explore the industry-led models in Brazil and Germany. We look at government-run systems in Mexico and India. We even cover the unique case of China, where the ISBN is not a simple identifier but a state-controlled publication license. The book also examines the systems in the UK , France , Russia , Japan , Australia , South Africa , Nigeria , and Egypt. Many books and websites can tell you how to get an ISBN. This handbook is the only resource that explains why the process is so different everywhere you look. It moves beyond a simple "how-to" and provides a true global analysis. It directly compares the privatized, for-profit models in the US and UK against the free, public-good systems in Canada and South Africa. You won't just learn the price; you will understand the cultural policies, market structures, and legal philosophies that shape that price. This book shows how the ISBN is a "global mirror". It reveals how a simple number can be a commercial product in one nation , a tool of cultural policy in another , and an instrument of state control in a third. This comparative insight is the missing piece for any author, publisher, or researcher trying to navigate the complex international publishing market. Disclaimer: This handbook is an independently produced resource for commentary and analysis. The author has no affiliation with the International ISBN Agency, R.R. Bowker, Library and Archives Canada, the National Press and Publication Administration, or any other national ISBN agency. This work is independently produced under the principle of nominative fair use.
Once Upon a Broken Heart
Stephanie Garber • 2021
Caraval
Stephanie Garber • 2016
Divine Rivals
Rebecca Ross • 2023
The Burning God
R. F. Kuang • 2020
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins • 2008
Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo • 2015
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
Zoulfa Katouh • 2022
Autumn in Paris
Ilana Tan • 2015
Cinder
Marissa Meyer • 2012
The Dragon Republic
R. F. Kuang • 2019
Vicious
V. E. Schwab • 2018
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry • 2000
The Poppy War
R. F. Kuang • 2018
To Read
Vengeful
V. E. Schwab • 2018
Babel
R. F. Kuang • 2022
Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War “Absolutely phenomenal. One of the most brilliant, razor-sharp books I've had the pleasure of reading that isn't just an alternative fantastical history, but an interrogative one; one that grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out.” -- Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire. Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization. For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide… Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?
