An Eerdmans Century, 1911-2011

Engaging saga of an American independent religious publisher’s first 100 years

From ten-cent specials for Dutch farmers to over 1,000 titles currently in print, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has since 1911 built a solid reputation for producing “the finest in religious literature”: an ecumenical blend of thoughtful books by authors including C. S. Lewis, Karl Barth, John Howard Yoder, Philip Yancey, Joan Chittister, N. T. Wright, Rowan Williams, Martin Marty, Eugene Peterson, and Pope Benedict XVI. Now, on the occasion of the Eerdmans centennial celebration, Larry ten Harmsel tells the company’s story. Through first-person interviews, historical documents, and newly uncovered information, ten Harmsel relates how Wm. B. Eerdmans Sr. started and built the American publishing company that bears his name— and how Wm. B. Eerdmans Jr. has carried on the family tradition of independent and eclectic religious publishing into the company’s 100th year.