Below is the complete list of Louis Auchincloss books in order. For each series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Standalone Books
- The Indifferent Children (1947)
The Indifferent Children was published in 1947 and is listed as book #1 in the Standalone series. - Sybil (1952)
Published in 1952, Sybil is listed as book #2 in the Standalone series. - Law for the Lion (1953)
Law for the Lion is a 1953 release and appears as book #3 in the Standalone series. - The Great World and Timothy Colt (1957)
In the Standalone series, The Great World and Timothy Colt is book #4 and was published in 1957. - Venus in Sparta (1958)
Venus in Sparta was first published in 1958; within the Standalone series, it is listed as book #5. - Pursuit of the Prodigal (1959)
Pursuit of the Prodigal was published in 1959 and is listed as book #6 in the Standalone series. 
- Watchfires (1960)
Watchfires is a 1960 release and appears as book #8 in the Standalone series. - Portrait in Brownstone (1962)
In the Standalone series, Portrait in Brownstone is book #9 and was published in 1962. 
- World of Profit (1969)
Published in 1969, World of Profit is listed as book #12 in the Standalone series. - I Come As a Thief (1972)
I Come As a Thief is a 1972 release and appears as book #13 in the Standalone series. - The Book Class (1974)
In the Standalone series, The Book Class is book #14 and was published in 1974. - The Dark Lady (1977)
The Dark Lady was first published in 1977; within the Standalone series, it is listed as book #15. - The Country Cousin (1978)
The Country Cousin was published in 1978 and is listed as book #16 in the Standalone series. - The House of the Prophet (1980)
Published in 1980, The House of the Prophet is listed as book #17 in the Standalone series. - The Cat and the King (1981)
The Cat and the King is a 1981 release and appears as book #18 in the Standalone series. - Exit Lady Masham (1983)
In the Standalone series, Exit Lady Masham is book #19 and was published in 1983. - Honorable Men (1985)
Honorable Men was first published in 1985; within the Standalone series, it is listed as book #20. - Diary of a Yuppie (1986)
Diary of a Yuppie was published in 1986 and is listed as book #21 in the Standalone series. - Fellow Passengers (1988)
Published in 1988, Fellow Passengers is listed as book #22 in the Standalone series. - The Golden Calves (1988)
The Golden Calves is a 1988 release and appears as book #23 in the Standalone series. - Lady of Situations (1990)
In the Standalone series, Lady of Situations is book #24 and was published in 1990. - The Education of Oscar Fairfax (1995)
The Education of Oscar Fairfax was first published in 1995; within the Standalone series, it is listed as book #25. - Her Infinite Variety (2000)
Her Infinite Variety was published in 2000 and is listed as book #26 in the Standalone series. - The Scarlet Letters (2003)
Published in 2003, The Scarlet Letters is listed as book #27 in the Standalone series. - East Side Story (2004)
East Side Story is a 2004 release and appears as book #28 in the Standalone series. - The Headmaster’s Dilemma (2007)
In the Standalone series, The Headmaster’s Dilemma is book #29 and was published in 2007. - Last of the Old Guard (2008)
Last of the Old Guard was first published in 2008; within the Standalone series, it is listed as book #30.
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
- Cases and Materials On Law of Contracts (1960)
Cases and Materials On Law of Contracts was published in 1960 and is listed as book #1 in the Non-Fiction series. - Reflections of a Jacobite (1961)
Published in 1961, Reflections of a Jacobite is listed as book #2 in the Non-Fiction series. - Ellen Glasgow (1964)
Ellen Glasgow is a 1964 release and appears as book #3 in the Non-Fiction series. - The World of Henry James (1964)
In the Non-Fiction series, The World of Henry James is book #4 and was published in 1964. - Pioneers and Caretakers (1965)
Pioneers and Caretakers was first published in 1965; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #5. - Motiveless Malignity (1970)
Motiveless Malignity was published in 1970 and is listed as book #6 in the Non-Fiction series. - Richelieu (1972)
Published in 1972, Richelieu is listed as book #7 in the Non-Fiction series. - Reading Henry James (1975)
Reading Henry James is a 1975 release and appears as book #8 in the Non-Fiction series. - Introduction to Anglo-American law (1977)
In the Non-Fiction series, Introduction to Anglo-American law is book #9 and was published in 1977. - A Writer’s Capital (1979)
A Writer’s Capital was first published in 1979; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #10. - Persons of Consequence (1979)
Persons of Consequence was published in 1979 and is listed as book #11 in the Non-Fiction series. - Life, Law and Letters (1979)
Published in 1979, Life, Law and Letters is listed as book #12 in the Non-Fiction series. - Three Perfect Novels (1981)
Three Perfect Novels is a 1981 release and appears as book #13 in the Non-Fiction series. - Maverick in Mauve (1983)
In the Non-Fiction series, Maverick in Mauve is book #14 and was published in 1983. - A Writer’s Use of Fact in Fiction (1984)
A Writer’s Use of Fact in Fiction was first published in 1984; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #15. - False Dawn (1984)
False Dawn was published in 1984 and is listed as book #16 in the Non-Fiction series. - The Vanderbilt Era (1989)
Published in 1989, The Vanderbilt Era is listed as book #17 in the Non-Fiction series. - The Hone and Strong Diaries of Old Manhattan (1989)
The Hone and Strong Diaries of Old Manhattan is a 1989 release and appears as book #18 in the Non-Fiction series. - J.P. Morgan (1990)
In the Non-Fiction series, J.P. Morgan is book #19 and was published in 1990. - Love Without Wings (1991)
Love Without Wings was first published in 1991; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #20. - The Style’s the Man (1994)
The Style’s the Man was published in 1994 and is listed as book #21 in the Non-Fiction series. - Newport Remembered (1994)
Published in 1994, Newport Remembered is listed as book #22 in the Non-Fiction series. - La Gloire (1996)
La Gloire is a 1996 release and appears as book #23 in the Non-Fiction series. - The Man Behind the Book (1996)
In the Non-Fiction series, The Man Behind the Book is book #24 and was published in 1996. - Theodore Roosevelt (2002)
Theodore Roosevelt was first published in 2002; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #25. - Forging a New Nation (2002)
Forging a New Nation was published in 2002 and is listed as book #26 in the Non-Fiction series. - Hawthorne Revisited (2004)
Published in 2004, Hawthorne Revisited is listed as book #27 in the Non-Fiction series. - Writers and Personality (2005)
Writers and Personality is a 2005 release and appears as book #28 in the Non-Fiction series. - Woodrow Wilson: A Life (2009)
In the Non-Fiction series, Woodrow Wilson: A Life is book #29 and was published in 2009. - A Voice from Old New York (2010)
A Voice from Old New York was first published in 2010; within the Non-Fiction series, it is listed as book #30.
Publication Order of Collections Books
with Jerry Pinkney
- The Injustice Collectors (1951)
The Injustice Collectors was published in 1951 and is listed as book #1 in the Collections series. - The Romantic Egotists (1954)
Published in 1954, The Romantic Egotists is listed as book #2 in the Collections series. - The Unholy Three (1955)
The Unholy Three is a 1955 release and appears as book #3 in the Collections series. - Powers of Attorney (1963)
In the Collections series, Powers of Attorney is book #4 and was published in 1963. - Tales of Manhattan (1967)
Tales of Manhattan was first published in 1967; within the Collections series, it is listed as book #5. - Second Chance (1970)
Second Chance was published in 1970 and is listed as book #6 in the Collections series. - The Partners (1974)
Published in 1974, The Partners is listed as book #7 in the Collections series. 
- Narcissa and Other Fables (1983)
In the Collections series, Narcissa and Other Fables is book #9 and was published in 1983. - Skinny Island (1987)
Skinny Island was first published in 1987; within the Collections series, it is listed as book #10. - False Gods (1992)
False Gods was published in 1992 and is listed as book #11 in the Collections series. - Three Lives (1993)
Published in 1993, Three Lives is listed as book #12 in the Collections series. - Tales of Yesteryear (1994)
Tales of Yesteryear is a 1994 release and appears as book #13 in the Collections series. - The Collected Stories of Louis Auchincloss (1994)
In the Collections series, The Collected Stories of Louis Auchincloss is book #14 and was published in 1994. - The Atonement (1997)
The Atonement was first published in 1997; within the Collections series, it is listed as book #15. - Civil Wars (1999)
Civil Wars was published in 1999 and is listed as book #16 in the Collections series. - The Anniversary (1999)
Published in 1999, The Anniversary is listed as book #17 in the Collections series. - Manhattan Monologues (2002)
Manhattan Monologues is a 2002 release and appears as book #18 in the Collections series. - The Young Apollo (2006)
In the Collections series, The Young Apollo is book #19 and was published in 2006. - The Friend of Women (2007)
The Friend of Women was first published in 2007; within the Collections series, it is listed as book #20.
Publication Order of Pamphlets on American Writers Books
Publication Order of Penguin Lives Books
Publication Order of The American Presidents Books
About Louis Auchincloss
Louis Auchincloss was an American novelist, short-story writer, biographer, historian, and lawyer whose fiction opened the doors of New York’s old-money families, Wall Street firms, private schools, clubs, and professional institutions. Over a literary career lasting more than sixty years, he wrote more than fifty books and became particularly associated with the American novel of manners. Money and privilege interested him less as symbols of glamour than as systems of power: his characters inherit fortunes, reputations, obligations, and social codes, then discover how difficult it can be to reconcile those advantages with ambition, conscience, loyalty, and personal freedom.
Born Louis Stanton Auchincloss in Lawrence, Long Island, in 1917, he grew up within the affluent New York society he would later examine so closely. He attended Groton School and Yale University but left Yale after three years and entered the University of Virginia School of Law. The decision established the unusual dual career that would define much of his adult life.
After earning his law degree, Auchincloss joined Sullivan & Cromwell in New York. His legal career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the United States Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters and participated in the Normandy invasion. Returning to New York after the war, he resumed practicing law and eventually became a partner at Hawkins, Delafield & Wood, specializing in trusts and estates. Rather than abandoning law once his books began succeeding, he continued practicing for decades, giving his fiction an unusually intimate understanding of how wealthy families, lawyers, trustees, corporations, and institutions actually operated.
His first novel, The Indifferent Children, appeared in 1947 under the pseudonym Andrew Lee. During the 1950s and 1960s his reputation grew through books including The Great World and Timothy Colt, The House of Five Talents, and Portrait in Brownstone. Multigenerational families frequently provided Auchincloss with a framework for showing how wealth changes as it passes from its creators to descendants who inherit both its benefits and its burdens.
His best-known novel, The Rector of Justin, examines the life and legacy of the formidable founder of an elite New England boarding school through multiple perspectives. The structure allows Auchincloss to question the difference between a powerful public reputation and the more complicated person remembered by colleagues, students, and family. The Embezzler similarly enters a world of financial prestige and moral compromise, reconstructing a Wall Street scandal through conflicting accounts rather than offering a simple judgment.
Auchincloss returned repeatedly to lawyers and financiers in works such as The Partners, I Come as a Thief, and Diary of a Yuppie. Yet his interests extended beyond contemporary Manhattan. He wrote historical fiction, short stories, memoir and criticism, as well as biographies and studies of figures including Edith Wharton, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Cardinal Richelieu. His admiration for Wharton and Henry James was particularly important to his own literary identity, though his direct experience of twentieth-century professional America gave his work a distinctive territory.
Auchincloss also served major cultural institutions, including as president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and received the National Medal of Arts in 2005. He continued publishing into his nineties and died in New York in 2010.
Across his extensive bibliography, Auchincloss documented a social order from the inside while remaining skeptical of its claims to virtue. His enduring subject was not simply wealth, but what happens when privilege becomes entangled with duty, ambition, institutional loyalty, and the fear of losing a world that already seems to be passing away.