Author Guide · Communication & Psychology
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Marshall Rosenberg’s family moved to Detroit one week before the race riot of June 1943, in which 34 people were killed. At school there he met antisemitism aimed at him. The question he took from those years, why people turn to violence and what would let them talk without it, ran through the rest of his life. He took a PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Wisconsin in 1961, where he studied under Carl Rogers, worked on school integration in the 1960s, and in 1984 founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication. By the time he retired in 2011 he had trained people in more than 60 countries. His books set out one method, Nonviolent Communication, and then apply it to anger, parenting, schools, couples and war. This guide covers his 11 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 key books · 1999–2012 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Marshall Rosenberg’s central book is Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life (first edition 1999, third edition 2015), translated into more than 40 languages. Around it sit short applied books such as The Surprising Purpose of Anger (2005), Speak Peace in a World of Conflict (2005) and Raising Children Compassionately (2004). Start with Nonviolent Communication; the others assume you know its four steps.
Where to Start with Marshall Rosenberg
If you have never read him
→ Nonviolent Communication (1999) — the four-step method everything else builds on.
If you want the method applied to war and divided communities
→ Speak Peace in a World of Conflict (2005) — drawn from his mediation work.
If you want one emotion looked at closely
→ The Surprising Purpose of Anger (2005) — anger read as a signal of an unmet need.
If you are a parent or teacher
→ Raising Children Compassionately (2004) — then Life-Enriching Education for the classroom.
11 Marshall Rosenberg Books, in Order
Nonviolent Communication
The book that sets out his method in four steps: observations made without judgement, feelings, the needs behind those feelings, and a concrete request rather than a demand. It argues that most hurt in conversation comes from language built on blame, diagnosis and demand. First published in 1999 as A Language of Compassion, it was retitled for the 2003 second edition; the third edition appeared in 2015, the year he died. The publisher says it has been translated into more than 40 languages.
Life-Enriching Education
Nonviolent Communication applied to schools. Rosenberg argues that classrooms built on connection between students and teachers, rather than on rewards, punishment and compliance, get better results and fewer conflicts, and he gives examples from his own work with schools.
Raising Children Compassionately
A 48-page booklet for parents. It sets Nonviolent Communication against parenting by reward and punishment, and shows how parents can win cooperation by connecting with what a child feels and needs.
Teaching Children Compassionately
A short companion to Life-Enriching Education, written for teachers. It covers how students and teachers can work from mutual understanding instead of control.
We Can Work It Out
A short booklet on resolving a conflict that is already under way, between two people or two sides, by having each hear the other’s needs before anyone looks for a solution.
Getting Past the Pain Between Us
A 48-page booklet on healing after one person has hurt another. Its starting point is that behind all emotional pain are unmet needs, and it works through role-play dialogues and everyday examples meant for couples, families, mediators and therapists.
Speak Peace in a World of Conflict
His widest application of the method: from conversations at home to conflicts between groups and states. It draws on stories from his work as a mediator between warring and divided communities, and argues that the skills that repair a relationship can also reduce violence between peoples.
The Surprising Purpose of Anger
A short book that treats anger as a signal rather than a problem to manage. Rosenberg traces anger to judgemental thinking about others and asks the reader to find the unmet need underneath it, then express that need in full.
Practical Spirituality
A short book on the spiritual basis of Nonviolent Communication, in which Rosenberg presents the method as a spiritual practice of connecting with others, not only a set of communication techniques.
Being Me, Loving You
A short book on couples and close relationships: how to say honestly what you need without blaming your partner, and how to hear a partner’s needs without giving up your own.
Living Nonviolent Communication
Published by Sounds True in 2012, three years before his death, this 192-page compilation gathers his applied work in one volume: conflict resolution, anger, spiritual practice, healing and reconciliation, loving relationships and raising children. It opens with everyday scenes such as a tense meeting with a boss or a call from a child’s school.
In What Order to Read Marshall Rosenberg
Read Nonviolent Communication first. Every later book takes its four steps for granted and applies them to one setting, so reading them before the main book means learning the method backwards.
After that, the order is yours: choose the setting that matters to you. Most of the 2004–2005 titles are short booklets you can read in an evening. Living Nonviolent Communication (2012) covers much of the same ground in one volume, so if you want breadth rather than one topic, read it instead of several booklets.
A reading path
1. Nonviolent Communication (1999)
2. The Surprising Purpose of Anger (2005)
3. Being Me, Loving You (2005)
4. Speak Peace in a World of Conflict (2005)
5. Living Nonviolent Communication (2012)
Everything Else Marshall Rosenberg Published
Beyond the 11 key books: 7 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Early books (most out of print)
4
4 books · 1968–1983
- 1968Diagnostic Teachinghis first book
- 1972Mutual Education: Toward Autonomy and Interdependenceon schools run on cooperation
- 1976From Now Onrevised in later editions
- 1983A Model for Nonviolent Communicationan early outline of the method
Other booklets
1
1 book · 2004
- 2004The Heart of Social ChangeNonviolent Communication applied to social change
Companions by other NVC trainers, often credited to him
2
2 books · 2003–2004
- 2003Nonviolent Communication Companion Workbookexercises for practising the method, by Lucy Leu
- 2004Parenting From Your Hearta parenting booklet in the same series, by Inbal Kashtan
The years · 1934–2015
Quick facts about Marshall B. Rosenberg
- Known for
- Creating Nonviolent Communication, a four-step method for talking through conflict, and teaching it worldwide through the Center for Nonviolent Communication, which he founded in 1984
- 1934
- Born in Canton, Ohio
- 1943
- Family moves to Detroit, a week before the race riot
- 1961
- PhD in clinical psychology, University of Wisconsin
- 1984
- Founds the Center for Nonviolent Communication
- 2015
- Dies in Albuquerque, aged 80
- Born
- 6 October 1934, Canton, Ohio
- Died
- 7 February 2015, Albuquerque, New Mexico, aged 80
- Education
- University of Michigan (AB, 1956); PhD in clinical psychology, University of Wisconsin (1961), where he studied under Carl Rogers
- Founded
- The Center for Nonviolent Communication, 1984; Director of Educational Services until 2011
- Reach
- Trained people in more than 60 countries
- Honours
- Bridge of Peace Nonviolence Award, Global Village Foundation (2006)
The red mark is 1999: the first edition of Nonviolent Communication, the book all his later work builds on.
How Marshall Rosenberg Writes: One Method, Many Rooms
Rosenberg wrote less as an essayist than as a trainer putting workshops on paper. His books are built from dialogues: a parent and a child, a couple, a teacher and a class, set out line by line, often in the form of a role-play he ran in front of a group. The point is always to show the gap between what someone said and what they needed.
The vocabulary is deliberately simple and repeated from book to book: observation, feeling, need, request. He separates observations from evaluations and feelings from thoughts disguised as feelings, and he names habits of speech that block connection, such as diagnosis, demands and denial of responsibility. That is why the later booklets are short: the method stays the same, only the setting changes.
His work grew out of humanistic psychology, especially Carl Rogers’s empathic listening, and out of his own early years in Detroit. For writers on empathy, conflict and connection in the same line, see Authors like Marshall Rosenberg.
Watch
Marshall Rosenberg on Fostering Hope, Understanding and Peace
Marshall Rosenberg describes his decades of conflict mediation, an encounter in a Palestinian refugee camp and the protective use of force, in a clip from a documentary project, posted in 2024. From the official Center for Nonviolent Communication, CNVC channel.
Frequently asked questions about Marshall Rosenberg’s books
Who was Marshall Rosenberg?
An American clinical psychologist, mediator and author (1934–2015), best known for creating Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a method for resolving conflict through empathy. He founded the Center for Nonviolent Communication in 1984 and trained people in more than 60 countries.
How many books did Marshall Rosenberg write?
Around twenty titles, many of them short booklets. Eleven are the key books on this page, from Nonviolent Communication (1999) to Living Nonviolent Communication (2012); the rest are early books from 1968 to 1983, mostly out of print, and one further booklet. Most were published by PuddleDancer Press.
What are Marshall Rosenberg’s books in order?
Nonviolent Communication (1999), Life-Enriching Education (2003), Raising Children Compassionately (2004), Teaching Children Compassionately (2004), We Can Work It Out (2004), Getting Past the Pain Between Us (2004), Speak Peace in a World of Conflict (2005), The Surprising Purpose of Anger (2005), Practical Spirituality (2005), Being Me, Loving You (2005) and Living Nonviolent Communication (2012).
Where should I start with Marshall Rosenberg?
With Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. It explains the four steps that all his other books apply to a single setting such as anger, parenting or couples.
What is Marshall Rosenberg’s most famous book?
Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, first published in 1999 as Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Compassion. The third edition appeared in 2015, and the publisher says the book has been translated into more than 40 languages.
What is Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life about?
It sets out a four-part process — observation, feelings, needs and requests — and argues that much of the hurt in everyday conversation comes from judgement, blame and demands. It offers honest expression and empathic listening in their place, with many example dialogues.
What are the four components of Nonviolent Communication?
Observing what happened without judging it, naming the feeling it brings up, connecting that feeling to an underlying need, and making a clear, concrete request rather than a demand.
What inspired Marshall Rosenberg to develop Nonviolent Communication?
He traced it to his childhood: his family moved to Detroit a week before the 1943 race riot, and he met antisemitism at school. He studied clinical psychology under Carl Rogers at the University of Wisconsin, and began developing the method in the 1960s, partly in work on school integration.
What is the Center for Nonviolent Communication?
The international nonprofit Rosenberg founded in 1984 to teach Nonviolent Communication and certify trainers. He was its Director of Educational Services until he retired in 2011.
When and where was Marshall Rosenberg born?
On 6 October 1934 in Canton, Ohio. He grew up partly in Steubenville, Ohio, and then in Detroit, Michigan.
Is Marshall Rosenberg still alive?
No. He died at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on 7 February 2015, at the age of 80. The third edition of Nonviolent Communication was published the same year.
Did Marshall Rosenberg write the Nonviolent Communication Companion Workbook and Parenting From Your Heart?
No, although both are often listed under his name. The Companion Workbook (2003) is by Lucy Leu, and Parenting From Your Heart (2004) is by Inbal Kashtan; both are published by PuddleDancer Press alongside his books.
Footnotes
- Marshall Rosenberg — Wikipedia
- Founder of our organization, Dr. Marshall Rosenberg — Center for Nonviolent Communication
- Nonviolent Communication, 3rd edition — Harvard Book Store
- Getting Past the Pain Between Us — Independent Publishers Group
- Parenting From Your Heart — Independent Publishers Group
- Living Nonviolent Communication — Bookshop.org
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“What I want in my life is compassion, a flow between myself and others based on a mutual giving from the heart.”
— Marshall B. Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, chapter 1, “Giving From the Heart”
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