Oxford University Press
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins’s first book, was published in October 1976 and 50 years on, it is still selling, in more than 30 languages. For a science book – not least one with “gene” in its title – this is truly astonishing.
For me, the story began in February 1976. I was a commissioning editor at the Oxford University Press (OUP) and in the post was a handwritten note from Roger Elliott, a physicist and one of the university academics involved with OUP. He wrote: “One of the dons here, Dr C R Dawkins, is writing a popular science book tentatively called ‘The Selfish Gene’… I have no idea whether he or it is any good but it might be worth looking into.”
Just under two weeks later, I started to read draft versions of Dawkins’s opening chapters and, with a jolt, my life changed. I knew before reaching the bottom of the first page that here was something extraordinary. It was as if the writing had reached out and grabbed me by the lapels.
By the time I had finished, the whole thing had taken a powerful hold on my imagination. But, as an editor, what was really intoxicating was feeling wholly convinced that the book was going to make waves. It was going to sell.
