A Brief History of Time - A Brief History of Time is a popular science book written by Stephen Hawking and first published by the Bantam Dell Publishing Group in 1988. It became a best-seller and has sold more than 9 million copies. It was also on the London Sunday Times best-seller list for more than four years.[1] There is also a documentary by the same name, directed by Errol Morris and released in 1991. Unlike the book, the documentary is primarily a biography of Stephen Hawking.