The UK or US edition?

In the comments, "Lee" asks:

  1. Why the US edition of The Logic of Life is published first;
  2. Why the covers and subtitles are different;
  3. Is there a significant difference between the two books?

Fair enough, and a few emails suggest other people are wondering the same thing. The answers are not mysterious:

  1. The US edition is first because somebody had to be first (I cannot promote the book in two places at once). The US is first, probably because they were first to publish "Undercover Economist", which in turn was because the US publisher bought it first. Last time the gap was five months; this time it is just three weeks.
  2. Why the different covers and subtitles? Different publishers come to different conclusions about what will sell in different markets. Are they right? We’ll never know, I suspect.
  3. No, there is barely any difference between the two editions, but do feel free to collect the set.

You can compare the two covers here.

Tim Harford’s blog

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Tim, also known as the Undercover Economist, writes about the economics of everyday life.

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Publishing schedule: Excerpts from "The Undercover Economist" and "Dear Economist", Tim's weekly columns for the FT Magazine, are published on this blog on Saturday mornings.
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