“The Blue Notebooks” is one of Max Richter’s most successful albums to date and was originally composed in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Richter has described it as "a protest album about Iraq, a mediation on violence. It features readings from Franz Kafka's The Blue Octavo Notebooks and Czeslaw Milosz's Hymn of the Pearl and Unattainable Earth. Both readings are by the British actress Tilda Swinton.

The tracks "Shadow Journal" and "Organum" were included in the soundtrack of the animated documentary Waltz with Bashir (2008).

Originally written in 2003, DG is releasing this new edition to celebrate its 15th anniversary with brand new artwork and bonus content, such as new arrangements, remixes, as well as a completely unreleased new track.