Between the parades, picnics, and BBQs of today, we’re pausing to celebrate the independent spirit of Akashic Books, a Brooklyn-based publisher named for the Sanskirt word for “giant library.” The small press -- dedicated to “the reverse-gentrification of the literary world” -- was founded in 1996 by Johnny Temple, former bassist of the rock group Girls Against Boys.

In the introduction to Akashic’s 2005 reprint of his 1976 Vietnam war classic, "Born on the Fourth of July,” Ron Kovic writes: “I am extremely grateful to Akashic Books...for bringing out this new edition of ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ at such a crucial moment in our nation’s history." He goes on to criticize the “tragic and senseless war in Iraq,” citing the then-startling (and now dwarfed) resulting numbers of dead and wounded Americans and innocent Iraqi civilians.

Intimately familiar with the cost of war and its physical and emotional wounds after serving two tours of duty in Vietnam, a wheelchair-bound Kovic turned his antiwar passion and outrage into the bestselling autobiography adapted for the screen by fellow Vietnam veteran Oliver Stone in 1989. (See below for a trailer of the Academy Award-winning film starring Tom Cruise.) Of writing the book over a brief stretch in the fall of 1974 on a $42 manual typewriter he bought at Sears & Roebuck in Santa Monica, California, Kovic has said: “It was like an explosion, a dam bursting, everything flowed beautifully, just kept pouring out, almost effortlessly, passionately, desperately.”

The book's expression of such powerful energy, combined with its strong voice, makes its affiliation with Akashic seem inevitable in hindsight. “The book remains one of our best, most steady backlist sellers, with nine printings to date,” says managing editor Johanna Ingalls. “It remains as timely as ever, and we couldn't be more proud to be the publisher of such an important American classic.”