In this powerful new collection of stories and oil paintings, President George W. Bush spotlights courageous men and women and their struggle for freedom
(New York, NY—September 16, 2026): Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, announced today that it will publish a new book by George W. Bush, the forty-third president of the United States, entitled THE CALL OF FREEDOM: Portraits of Political Prisoners and Dissidents on March 9, 2027. Furthering the work of the George W. Bush Institute in highlighting the courage and resilience of political dissidents around the globe, an exhibition featuring President Bush’s portraits will open to the public at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the same date.
During his presidency, President Bush met with nearly 200 political dissidents from around the world, a practice he has continued since leaving the White House. From Václav Havel and Nelson Mandela to María Corina Machado and the Dalai Lama, these conversations centered on individual rights, self-government, and the inborn desire in every human heart to be free. Vocal in his belief that democracies help promote peace and stability around the world, in his 2005 inaugural speech, President Bush laid out what would come to be known as his Freedom Agenda, declaring: “It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.”
Though he has left the White House, President Bush’s resolve has not wavered, nor has his ambition to support the individuals fighting for freedom all around the world. With THE CALL OF FREEDOM, he shares the stirring stories of men and women who have been persecuted for their political beliefs along with forty-four full-color portraits. With a foreword by author and former Soviet prisoner Natan Sharansky, this collection introduces readers to dissidents such as Rushan Abbas, who is fighting for the release of her sister Gulshan Abbas, a retired Uyghur doctor detained by the Chinese government; Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, a Catholic bishop imprisoned for “crimes against spirituality” by the violent Nicaraguan government; and Jina Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian activist stopped by morality police for wearing her hijab “incorrectly” in Tehran, and whose murder sparked nationwide “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in September 2022.
Throughout this moving project, President Bush captures these dissidents’ faces and stories in striking detail, bringing depth to our understanding of who they are, the challenges they face, and the lessons they can teach us. As we grapple with attacks on democratic ideals and political freedoms around the world, THE CALL OF FREEDOM seeks to remind us that the desire for freedom is universal—but it takes vigilance, perseverance, and the courage of ordinary people to achieve and sustain it. As President Bush writes in THE CALL OF FREEDOM:
“This book, coupled with our work at the Bush Institute, is a chance for me to send a message that the United States cares deeply about people seeking freedom. And hopefully these stories will remind us that we who live in liberty have a duty to stand with those who do not.”
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Crown will produce two print editions of THE CALL OF FREEDOM, each in full color: a jacketed hardcover edition priced at $42 and an oversized, deluxe edition signed by President Bush priced at $250. The deluxe edition will be clothbound with a special slipcase and exclusive cover design. The book will also be simultaneously published in digital audio format by Penguin Random House Audio.
President Bush was represented in negotiations by Williams & Connolly, with Crown acquiring world, electronic, and serial rights to the work. A portion of the author’s proceeds will benefit organizations that support the work of political dissidents across the globe, as well as the Bush Institute and its work on this issue.
More on THE CALL OF FREEDOM, exhibit, and ongoing policy work of the Bush Institute is available here.
About the Author:
George W. Bush served as the forty-third president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as governor of Texas. He and his wife, Laura, live in Dallas, where they founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center at SMU. President Bush is the author of four #1 bestsellers: Decision Points, his presidential memoir; 41, a biography of his father, President George H.W. Bush; and two collections of oil paintings and stories: Portraits of Courage, honoring the sacrifice of America’s military veterans, and Out of Many, One, celebrating America’s immigrants.
About the George W. Bush Presidential Center:
Located on the SMU campus in Dallas, Texas, the George W. Bush Presidential Center is a nonpartisan institution advancing the timeless values of freedom, opportunity, accountability, and compassion. The Bush Center comprises the George W. Bush Presidential Museum and the George W. Bush Institute, a solution-oriented policy organization focused on ensuring opportunity for all, strengthening democracy, and advancing free societies through policy solutions and public engagement. The Bush Center also houses the George W. Bush Presidential Library, operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, which provides access to official documents and artifacts from the George W. Bush Administration. Learn more about the Bush Center at bushcenter.org.
About the Crown Publishing Group:
The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, offers one of the most editorially dynamic publishing programs in the industry, encompassing a wide range of narrative and practical nonfiction categories, as well as fiction, cooking, lifestyle, gift, graphic novels, and children’s books. Crown’s belief in the unique power of books to convey ideas and stories fuels its mission of delivering a diverse mix of culturally relevant, entertaining, and informative works that enrich our understanding of the world, of one another, and of ourselves to a broad spectrum of readers.
Crown’s authors and books have won (and been nominated for) Pulitzer Prizes, MacArthur Fellowships, Nobel Peace Prizes, National Book Critics Circle Awards, James Beard Foundation Awards, NAACP Image Awards, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Eisner Awards, the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, the California Book Award for Nonfiction, and Goodreads Choice Awards, among others.
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