Order of Book Series
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John Hersey Books in Order

27 books are credited to John Hersey, published between 1943 and 2019; 1 of them appeared after John Hersey's death in 1993. The first book is Into the Valley (1943) and the newest is The Marmot Drive (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
27
Published
1943–2019
Pages on record
6,096 in 22 of 27 books
Reading time
102–152 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,096 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 22 of 27 titles with a page count on record.

See all 27 books in order Printable John Hersey checklist
Photo of John Hersey, author

Hiroshima (1946), an account of the aftermath of the atomic bombing of that Japanese city, is the defining book of John Hersey, an American journalist and novelist who lived from 1914 to 1993. A New York University journalism panel ranked Hiroshima in 1999 as the finest American journalism of the 20th century. Hersey is counted among the first to apply fiction's storytelling methods to reportage. The catalogue lists 27 books from Into the Valley (1943) onward, including A Bell for Adano (1944), The Wall (1950) and The War Lover (1959).

How many John Hersey books are there?

John Hersey has 27 books, released between 1943 and 2019. 1 of them were published after John Hersey's death in 1993.

John Hersey Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 27 John Hersey 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 Into the Valley by John Hersey (1943)
  2. Cover of A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (1944)
  3. Cover of Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946)
  4. Cover of The Child Buyer by John Hersey (1947)
  5. Cover of The Wall by John Hersey (1950)
  6. Cover of A Single Pebble by John Hersey (1956)
  7. Cover of Of Men and War by John Hersey (1965)
  8. Cover of The Algiers Motel Incident by John Hersey (1968)
  9. Cover of Letter to the Alumni by John Hersey (1970)
  10. Cover of The Conspiracy by John Hersey (1972)
  11. Cover of The Writer's Craft by John Hersey (1973)
  12. Cover of My Petition for More Space by John Hersey (1974)
  13. Cover of The President by John Hersey (1975)
  14. Cover of The Walnut Door by John Hersey (1977)
  15. Cover of Aspects of the Presidency by John Hersey (1980)
  16. Cover of The Call by John Hersey (1985)
  17. Cover of Blues by John Hersey (1987)
  18. Cover of Life Sketches by John Hersey (1989)
  19. Cover of Fling and Other Stories by John Hersey (1990)
  20. Cover of Antonietta by John Hersey (1991)
  21. Cover of Key West Tales by John Hersey (1993)
  1. 1
    Into the Valley1943 · 79 pages · confirmed 1/4
    194379
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    A Bell for Adano1944 · 269 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1944269
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Hiroshima1946 · 152 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1946152
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Child Buyer1947 · 257 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1947257
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Wall1950 · 632 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1950632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    A Single Pebble1956 · 181 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956181
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The War Lover1959 · confirmed 1/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Here to Stay1962 · confirmed 1/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Of Men and War1965 · 132 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1965132
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    White Lotus1965 · confirmed 1/4
    1965–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Too Far to Walk1966 · confirmed 1/4
    1966–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Under the Eye of the Storm1967 · 245 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1967245
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Algiers Motel Incident1968 · 397 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1968397
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Letter to the Alumni1970 · 145 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1970145
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Conspiracy1972 · 274 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1972274
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Writer's Craft1973 · 425 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973425
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    My Petition for More Space1974 · 182 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1974182
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The President1975 · 153 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1975153
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Walnut Door1977 · 235 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1977235
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Aspects of the Presidency1980 · 247 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1980247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Call1985 · 771 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985771
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Blues1987 · 205 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987205
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Life Sketches1989 · 377 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989377
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 25
    Antonietta1991 · 304 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1991304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 26
    Key West Tales1993 · 227 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1993227
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 27
    The Marmot Drive2019 · confirmed 1/4
    2019–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Hersey 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

27 books

27 John Hersey titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read John Hersey books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 27 John Hersey books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with John Hersey

Start with Into the Valley (1943), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Hersey book?

The Marmot Drive (2019) is the newest John Hersey book released so far.

Is there a new John Hersey book coming?

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

Awards John Hersey has won

Wikidata records 4 awards and 1 nomination for John Hersey. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards1951Won
  • National Jewish Book Awards1950Won
  • The Hillman Prize for Book Journalism1950Won
  • Pulitzer Prize for the Novel1945Wonfor A Bell for Adano
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1958Shortlisted

John Hersey at a glance

Died
John Hersey died in 1993, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to John Hersey are still being published after John Hersey's death in 1993; the newest appeared in 2019.
Release pace
John Hersey books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
6,096 pages across the 22 of 27 books with a recorded length, a median of 240 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Hersey books, 6 of 27, were published in the 1970s.

What the John Hersey books are about

22 of the 27 John Hersey 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 6 of 22. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.