Back again to the left, a collection of the best and most influential columns written over the past 11 years for the New York Times op-ed page by columnist Bob Herbert was bought for Times Books at Holt by editor-in-chief Paul Golob. The tentative title is Promises Betrayed and the overall theme, as in most of Herbert's columns, is the abuses of power often visited on poor, working-class and African-American citizens, and the gap that seems to be widening between the American promise of equal justice and opportunity for all and the reality. Golob bought world rights directly from the author and will publish in fall 2005.