Annie Jacobsen Books in Order
Annie Jacobsen has written 9 books, published between 2005 and 2026. The first book is Terror in the Skies (2005) and the newest is Biological War (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 9
- Published
- 2005–2026
- Pages on record
- 2,960 in 6 of 9 books
- Reading time
- 49–74 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,960 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 6 of 9 titles with a page count on record.
Annie Jacobsen reports on war, weapons, national security and government secrecy. Nine books carry her name, from Terror in the Skies (2005) to Biological War (2026), covering military research, intelligence agencies, terrorism prevention, aviation safety and classified proving grounds: Area 51 (2011), Operation Paperclip (2014), The Pentagon's Brain (2015), Phenomena (2017), Surprise, Kill, Vanish (2019), First Platoon (2021) and Nuclear War: A Scenario (2024). Jacobsen is an American investigative journalist, born in 1967, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2016. Jacobsen also produces television, including Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan and Clarice, and edited for the Los Angeles Times Magazine from 2009 to 2012.
Jacobsen builds her books from extensive interviews with firsthand witnesses combined with declassified paperwork.
How many Annie Jacobsen books are there?
Annie Jacobsen has 9 books, released between 2005 and 2026.
Annie Jacobsen Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 9 Annie Jacobsen books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Terror in the Skies2005 · 194 pages · confirmed 2/420051942/4
- 2Area 512011 · 523 pages · confirmed 2/420115232/4
- 3Operation Paperclip2014 · 604 pages · confirmed 2/420146042/4
- 4The Pentagon's Brain2015 · 552 pages · confirmed 2/420155522/4
- 5Phenomena2017 · 527 pages · confirmed 2/420175272/4
- 6Surprise, Kill, Vanish2019 · 560 pages · confirmed 2/420195602/4
- 7First Platoon2021 · confirmed 2/42021–2/4
- 8Nuclear War: A Scenario2024 · confirmed 1/42024–1/4
- 9Biological War2026 · confirmed 1/42026–1/4
Annie Jacobsen books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Standalone books
9 books9 Annie Jacobsen titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Annie Jacobsen books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 9 Annie Jacobsen books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Annie Jacobsen
Start with Terror in the Skies (2005), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Annie Jacobsen book?
Biological War (2026) is the newest Annie Jacobsen book released so far.
Is there a new Annie Jacobsen book coming?
No next Annie Jacobsen book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Annie Jacobsen at a glance
- Still publishing
- Annie Jacobsen published a book as recently as 2026.
- Release pace
- Annie Jacobsen books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 2,960 pages across the 6 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 540 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Annie Jacobsen books, 5 of 9, were published in the 2010s.
What the Annie Jacobsen books are about
6 of the 9 Annie Jacobsen books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: military research is tagged on 4 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Military research 4 of 6 books
- History 2 of 6 books
- Intelligence service 2 of 6 books
- United states, history, military 2 of 6 books