Very Short Introductions

The Very Short Introductions series (or VSI series) is a book series published by the Oxford University Press publishing house since 1995. Books in the series offer concise introductions to particular subjects, intended for a general audience but written by experts in the field. (For example, authors of VSI entries in philosophy include A. J. Ayer, Roger Scruton, A. C. Grayling, and Peter Singer.) Individual titles range from 96–224 pages in length, with most between 120–180, and nearly all contain suggestions for further reading. While authors may present personal viewpoints, the books are meant to be "balanced and complete" as well as thought provoking.

As of October 2012, there are 334 titles in the series, with 30 more (and three updated editions) scheduled for publication by 2014. The publisher states that "the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library."

The VSI series has been very commercially successful. By 2011, Oxford University Press was giving sales figures for the series as over five million copies worldwide, and VSI books have been published in more than 25 languages.

Most of the books were written specifically for the VSI series, but around 60 first had life as previous OUP publications. For example, several of the earlier VSI volumes were initially published as part of OUP's Past Masters series, or (in the case of numbers 17-24) as chapters by different authors from The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (1984).