Order of Book Series
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Olivia Manning Books in Order

17 books are credited to Olivia Manning, published between 1937 and 1981; 1 of them appeared after Olivia Manning's death in 1980. The first book is The Wind Changes (1937) and the newest is The Sum of Things (1981). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
17
Published
1937–1981
Pages on record
3,837 in 15 of 17 books
Reading time
64–96 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,837 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 15 of 17 titles with a page count on record.

See all 17 books in order Printable Olivia Manning checklist

Olivia Manning was a British novelist, poet, writer and reviewer, born in 1908 and died in 1980. Journeys and personal odysseys run through Manning's fiction and non-fiction, set mainly in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East. Manning grew up between Portsmouth and Ireland. The catalogue holds 17 books from The Wind Changes (1937) to The Sum of Things (1981), including The Remarkable Expedition (1947), School for Love (1951), The Great Fortune (1960) and The Spoilt City (1962). The Balkan Trilogy and Levant Trilogy are the listed series, and the Second World War is a recorded subject.

How many Olivia Manning books are there?

Olivia Manning has 17 books, released between 1937 and 1981. 1 of them were published after Olivia Manning's death in 1980. They include 2 series and 10 titles listed outside any series.

Olivia Manning Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 17 Olivia Manning 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 The Wind Changes by Olivia Manning (1937)
  2. Cover of Artist Among The Missing by Olivia Manning (1949)
  3. Cover of School for Love by Olivia Manning (1951)
  4. Cover of A Different Face by Olivia Manning (1953)
  5. Cover of The Great Fortune by Olivia Manning, book 1 of the Balkan Trilogy (1960)
  6. Cover of The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning, book 2 of the Balkan Trilogy (1962)
  7. Cover of Friends and Heroes by Olivia Manning, book 3 of the Balkan Trilogy (1965)
  8. Cover of The Play Room by Olivia Manning (1969)
  9. Cover of The Rain Forest by Olivia Manning (1974)
  10. Cover of The Battle Lost and Won by Olivia Manning, book 2 of the Levant Trilogy (1978)
  11. Cover of The Sum of Things by Olivia Manning, book 3 of the Levant Trilogy (1981)
  1. 1
    The Wind Changes1937 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1937320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Remarkable Expedition1947 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1947288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Artist Among The Missing1949 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1949256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Dreaming Shore1950 · confirmed 2/4
    1950–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    School for Love1951 · 191 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1951191
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    A Different Face1953 · 219 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1953219
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Doves of Venus1955 · 313 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1955313
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Great FortuneBalkan Trilogy #11960 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1960288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Spoilt CityBalkan Trilogy #21962 · 304 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1962304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Friends and HeroesBalkan Trilogy #31965 · 344 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1965344
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    A Romantic HeroOliva Manning Short Story #11967 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1967256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Extraordinary Cats1967 · confirmed 2/4
    1967–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Play Room1969 · 184 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1969184
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Rain Forest1974 · 269 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974269
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Danger TreeLevant Trilogy #11977 · 205 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1977205
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Battle Lost and WonLevant Trilogy #21978 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Sum of ThingsLevant Trilogy #31981 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Olivia Manning 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.

Balkan Trilogy in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Great Fortune
  2. 2. The Spoilt City
  3. 3. Friends and Heroes

Levant Trilogy in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Danger Tree
  2. 2. The Battle Lost and Won
  3. 3. The Sum of Things

Oliva Manning Short Story

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Standalone books

10 books

10 Olivia Manning titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Olivia Manning books in order?

You only need to read Olivia Manning 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 Olivia Manning

Start with The Wind Changes (1937), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Olivia Manning book?

The Sum of Things (1981) is the newest Olivia Manning book released so far.

Is there a new Olivia Manning book coming?

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

Olivia Manning at a glance

Died
Olivia Manning died in 1980, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Olivia Manning are still being published after Olivia Manning's death in 1980; the newest appeared in 1981.
Release pace
Olivia Manning books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
3,837 pages across the 15 of 17 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Olivia Manning books, 6 of 17, were published in the 1960s.

What the Olivia Manning books are about

14 of the 17 Olivia Manning books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: world war, 1939-1945 is tagged on 5 of 14. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.