Lanny Budd Books in Order
Upton Sinclair has written 12 Lanny Budd books, published between 1940 and 2021: 11 in the Lanny Budd series and 1 related title. The first book is World's End (1940) and the newest main-line book is The Return of Lanny Budd (1953). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 12
- Published
- 1940–2021
- Pages on record
- 4,320 in 7 of 12 books
- Reading time
- 72–108 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,320 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 12 titles with a page count on record.
Lanny Budd carries Upton Sinclair through a sequence of historical novels about Europe and the two world wars. World's End (1940) opens the run, and Between Two Worlds (1941), Dragon's Teeth I (1942), Wide is the Gate (1943), Presidential Agent (1944), Dragon Harvest (1945), A World to Win (1946), Presidential Mission (1947), One Clear Call (1948) and O Shepherd, Speak! (1949) follow at about one a year. The sequence took a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded in 1943. The novels run very long, at a median of 654 pages.
How many Lanny Budd books are there?
Lanny Budd has 12 books, released between 1940 and 2021. 11 of them belong to the Lanny Budd series, and 1 related title sit outside it: non-fiction.
Lanny Budd Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 12 Lanny Budd 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.
- 11940–2/4
- 21941–2/4
- 319426312/4
- 419437512/4
- 519446882/4
- 619457342/4
- 719466542/4
- 81947–2/4
- 91948–2/4
- 1019492762/4
- 1119535862/4
- 122021–2/4
Do you have to read Lanny Budd books in order?
You should read the Lanny Budd series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 1 related title (non-fiction) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Lanny Budd book also stands alone.
Where to start with Lanny Budd
Start with World's End (1940), the earliest published book in the Lanny Budd series.
What is the newest Lanny Budd book?
The Return of Lanny Budd (1953) is the newest book in the Lanny Budd series. The newest related title is Index to the Lanny Budd Story (2021).
Is there a new Lanny Budd book coming?
No next Lanny Budd book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Lanny Budd at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest main-line Lanny Budd title on record is The Return of Lanny Budd (1953), 73 years ago. Related titles have appeared since.
- Release pace
- Lanny Budd books have appeared about one every 7 years on average.
- Length
- 4,320 pages across the 7 of 12 books with a recorded length, a median of 654 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Lanny Budd books, 10 of 12, were published in the 1940s.
What the Lanny Budd books are about
10 of the 12 Lanny Budd 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 3 of 10. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- World War, 1939-1945 3 of 10 books
- American fiction 2 of 10 books
More books by Upton Sinclair
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Upton Sinclair books in order 116 books