Order of Book Series
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John Dos Passos Books in Order

John Dos Passos has written 51 books, published between 1920 and 2003. The first book is One Man's Initiation: 1917 (1920) and the newest is Travel Books and Other Writings, 1916-1941 (2003). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
51
Published
1920–2003
Pages on record
9,613 in 27 of 51 books
Reading time
160–240 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 9,613 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 27 of 51 titles with a page count on record.

See all 51 books in order Printable John Dos Passos checklist

The U.S.A. trilogy is the work John Dos Passos is best known for. Dos Passos lived from 1896 to 1970, was born in Chicago, finished at Harvard College in 1916, and travelled through Europe and southwest Asia learning about literature, art and architecture. He drove for the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps in Paris and Italy during the First World War, then enlisted as a private in the United States Army Medical Corps. His 51 catalogued titles open with One Man's Initiation: 1917, take in Three Soldiers, Manhattan Transfer and the District of Columbia novels, and end with a 2003 collection of his travel writing.

How many John Dos Passos books are there?

John Dos Passos has 51 books, released between 1920 and 2003. They include 2 series and 45 titles listed outside any series.

John Dos Passos Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 51 John Dos Passos 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.

  1. Cover of One Man's Initiation: 1917 by John Dos Passos (1920)
  2. Cover of Streets of Night by John Dos Passos (1923)
  3. Cover of Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos (1925)
  4. Cover of Facing The Chair by John Dos Passos (1927)
  5. Cover of The 42nd Parallel by John Dos Passos, book 1 of the U.S.A. Trilogy (1930)
  6. Cover of 1919 by John Dos Passos, book 2 of the U.S.A. Trilogy (1932)
  7. Cover of The Big Money by John Dos Passos, book 3 of the U.S.A. Trilogy (1936)
  8. Cover of The Ground We Stand On by John Dos Passos (1949)
  9. Cover of The Prospect Before Us by John Dos Passos (1950)
  10. Cover of The Men Who Made the Nation by John Dos Passos (1957)
  11. Cover of The Shackles of Power by John Dos Passos (1966)
  12. Cover of Tour of Duty by John Dos Passos (1967)
  13. Cover of The Portugal Story by John Dos Passos (1969)
  14. Cover of Century's Ebb by John Dos Passos (1970)
  15. Cover of Easter Island by John Dos Passos (1970)
  16. Cover of The Fourteenth Chronicle by John Dos Passos (1973)
  17. Cover of Correspondence with Arthur K. McComb by John Dos Passos (1980)
  18. Cover of The American Lawyer by John Dos Passos (1986)
  19. Cover of The Major Nonfictional Prose by John Dos Passos (1988)
  20. Cover of Afterglow and Other Undergraduate Writings by John Dos Passos (1990)
  21. Cover of Travel Books and Other Writings, 1916-1941 by John Dos Passos (2003)
  1. 1
    One Man's Initiation: 19171920 · 128 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1920128
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Three Soldiers1921 · confirmed 1/4
    1921–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    A Pushcart At the Club1922 · confirmed 1/4
    1922–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Rosinante To The Road Again1922 · confirmed 1/4
    1922–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Streets of Night1923 · 226 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1923226
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Manhattan Transfer1925 · 342 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1925342
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Garbage Man1926 · confirmed 1/4
    1926–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Facing The Chair1927 · 127 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1927127
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Orient Express1927 · confirmed 1/4
    1927–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Airways, Inc.1928 · confirmed 1/4
    1928–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The 42nd ParallelU.S.A. Trilogy #11930 · 323 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1930323
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    1919U.S.A. Trilogy #21932 · 380 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1932380
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Three Plays1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    In All Countries.1934 · confirmed 1/4
    1934–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Big MoneyU.S.A. Trilogy #31936 · 448 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1936448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Journeys Between Wars1938 · confirmed 1/4
    1938–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Adventures of a Young ManDistrict of Columbia #11939 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1939272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Bitter Drink1939 · confirmed 1/4
    1939–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Living Thoughts of Tom Paine1940 · confirmed 1/4
    1940–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Number OneDistrict of Columbia #21943 · confirmed 1/4
    1943–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    State of the Nation1944 · 333 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1944333
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    First Encounter1945 · confirmed 1/4
    1945–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Grand DesignDistrict of Columbia #31949 · confirmed 1/4
    1949–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Ground We Stand On1949 · 477 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1949477
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Prospect Before Us1950 · 375 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1950375
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Chosen Country1952 · confirmed 1/4
    1952–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Most Likely To Succeed1954 · confirmed 1/4
    1954–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Head and Heart of Thomas Jefferson1954 · confirmed 1/4
    1954–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    The Theme is Freedom1956 · 263 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956263
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    The Men Who Made the Nation1957 · 480 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1957480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Dos Passos 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.

U.S.A. Trilogy in order

3 books
  1. 1. The 42nd Parallel
  2. 2. 1919
  3. 3. The Big Money

District of Columbia in order

3 books
  1. 1. Adventures of a Young Man
  2. 2. Number One
  3. 3. The Grand Design

Standalone books

45 books

45 John Dos Passos titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read John Dos Passos books in order?

You only need to read John Dos Passos books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with John Dos Passos

Start with One Man's Initiation: 1917 (1920), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Dos Passos book?

Travel Books and Other Writings, 1916-1941 (2003) is the newest John Dos Passos book released so far.

Is there a new John Dos Passos book coming?

No next John Dos Passos book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

John Dos Passos at a glance

No recent titles
The newest John Dos Passos title on record dates from 2003, 23 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
John Dos Passos books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
9,613 pages across the 27 of 51 books with a recorded length, a median of 334 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Dos Passos books, 11 of 51, were published in the 1960s.

What the John Dos Passos books are about

29 of the 51 John Dos Passos books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 10 of 29. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.