Order of Book Series
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Walter Isaacson Books in Order

Walter Isaacson has written 18 books, published between 1986 and 2025. The first book is The Wise Men (1986) and the newest is The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
18
Published
1986–2025
Pages on record
6,725 in 15 of 18 books
Reading time
112–168 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,725 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 15 of 18 titles with a page count on record.

See all 18 books in order Printable Walter Isaacson checklist
Photo of Walter Isaacson, author

Walter Isaacson is an American journalist and biographer, born on 20 May 1952, whose subjects have included Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Jennifer Doudna and Elon Musk. Isaacson has edited Time, chaired CNN and led the Aspen Institute, and was a professor at Tulane University as of 2024. Eighteen books are catalogued, from The Wise Men (1986) to The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025).

How many Walter Isaacson books are there?

Walter Isaacson has 18 books, released between 1986 and 2025.

Walter Isaacson Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 18 Walter Isaacson 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 Kissinger by Walter Isaacson (1992)
  2. Cover of People of the Century by Walter Isaacson (1999)
  3. Cover of Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson (2003)
  4. Cover of A Benjamin Franklin Reader by Walter Isaacson (2005)
  5. Cover of Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (2007)
  6. Cover of American Sketches by Walter Isaacson (2009)
  7. Cover of Profiles in Leadership by Walter Isaacson (2010)
  8. Cover of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (2011)
  9. Cover of The Innovators by Walter Isaacson (2014)
  10. Cover of Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (2017)
  11. Cover of Einstein by Walter Isaacson, book 2 of the Great Thinkers series (2018)
  12. Cover of Invent and Wander by Walter Isaacson (2020)
  13. Cover of The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson (2021)
  14. Cover of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (2023)
  1. 1
    The Wise Men1986 · confirmed 2/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Kissinger1992 · 896 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992896
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    People of the Century1999 · 448 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Benjamin Franklin2003 · 586 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2003586
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    A Benjamin Franklin Reader2005 · 576 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005576
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Einstein: His Life and Universe2007 · 675 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2007675
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Einstein: The Life of a Genius2009 · 110 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2009110
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    American Sketches2009 · 285 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2009285
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Profiles in Leadership2010 · 322 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2010322
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Steve Jobs2011 · 630 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2011630
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Innovators2014 · 542 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2014542
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Leonardo da Vinci2017 · 599 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017599
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    EinsteinGreat Thinkers #22018 · 160 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Invent and Wander2020 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Code Breaker2021 · 560 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2021560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Albert Einstein2021 · confirmed 2/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Elon Musk2023 · confirmed 2/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Greatest Sentence Ever Written2025 · 80 pages · confirmed 1/4
    202580
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Walter Isaacson 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.

Great Thinkers in order

1 book
  1. 2. Einstein

Standalone books

17 books

17 Walter Isaacson titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Walter Isaacson books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 18 Walter Isaacson books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Walter Isaacson

Start with The Wise Men (1986), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Walter Isaacson book?

The Greatest Sentence Ever Written (2025) is the newest Walter Isaacson book released so far.

Is there a new Walter Isaacson book coming?

No next Walter Isaacson 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 Walter Isaacson has won

Wikidata records 1 award and 1 nomination for Walter Isaacson. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Carl Sandburg Literary Award2013Won
  • Pulitzer Prize for Biography1993Shortlisted

Walter Isaacson at a glance

Still publishing
Walter Isaacson published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
Walter Isaacson books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
6,725 pages across the 15 of 18 books with a recorded length, a median of 542 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Walter Isaacson books, 5 of 18, were published in the 2020s.

What the Walter Isaacson books are about

17 of the 18 Walter Isaacson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: biography is tagged on 12 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Biography 12 of 17 books
  • Friends and associates 4 of 17 books
  • Physicists 4 of 17 books
  • Physics 4 of 17 books
  • Quantum mechanics 4 of 17 books
  • Relativity 4 of 17 books
  • Scientific advancement 4 of 17 books
  • Unified field theories 4 of 17 books
  • History 3 of 17 books
  • Statesmen 3 of 17 books
  • Scientists 2 of 17 books