Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1952 and located in New York. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history.

Basic Books is a member of the Perseus Books Group, since its sale by HarperCollins in 1997. Harper had owned the press since 1969.

Basic Books publishes the imprint Basic Civitas. Basic's list of authors includes Susan R. Barry, Stephen Carter, Iris Chang, George Chauncey, Richard Feynman, Niall Ferguson, Howard Gardner, Douglas Hofstadter, Victor Johnston, Irving Kristol, Edward Larson, Charles R. Marsh, Ernst Mayr, Alice Miller, Charles Murray, George H. Nash, Robert Nozick, Seymour Papert, Orlando Patterson, Samantha Power, Thomas Sowell, Beverly Tatum, Lester Thurow, Frank Wilczek and Irvin Yalom.

David Miscavige (born April 30, 1960) is the leader of the Church of Scientology and affiliated organizations. His title is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that controls the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Miscavige was an assistant to Hubbard (a "Commodore's messenger") while a teenager. He rose to a leadership position within the organization by the early 1980s and was named Chairman of the Board of RTC. Miscavige's mandate is to protect the works of L. Ron Hubbard from distortion or misuse, and to serve as ecclesiastical head of Scientology.

Since assuming his leadership position, Miscavige has been faced with press accounts alleging illegal and unethical practices, both personally and through his organizational management. These include reports of forced separation of family members, coercive fundraising practices, harassment of journalists and church critics, and public humiliation of church staff members, including physical assaults by Miscavige. Miscavige and church spokespeople have consistently denied these charges, often raising counter-charges that attack the credibility of the journalists and sources responsible for the critical accounts.