Author Guide · Literary Reportage
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For ten years in the 1960s and 1970s Ryszard Kapuściński was the only foreign correspondent of the Polish Press Agency, responsible, as he put it, for fifty countries. He saw dozens of coups and revolutions, was in Luanda when the Portuguese left Angola, and reached Ethiopia as the emperor fell. His books, part reportage and part literature, made him one of the most famous journalists in the world; after his death, a biography questioned how much of them was strictly factual. This guide covers his fifteen books of reportage in order, with which ones are in English, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 15 books · Literary reportage · 1962–2006 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Ryszard Kapuściński published fifteen books of reportage between 1962 and 2006, besides volumes of poetry and notebooks. Nine are available in English, among them The Emperor, Shah of Shahs, The Soccer War, Another Day of Life, Imperium and The Shadow of the Sun. He died in Warsaw in January 2007.
Where to Start with Ryszard Kapuściński
If you want the famous one
→ Cesarz (1978).
If you want Africa
→ Heban (1998).
If you want the Soviet Union
→ Imperium (1993).
If you want his last book
→ Podróże z Herodotem (2004).
All 15 Ryszard Kapuściński Books, in Order
Busz po polsku
Reportage from Poland in the late 1950s. Published in English more than half a century later as Nobody Leaves: Impressions of Poland.
Czarne gwiazdy
No English edition · available in Polish
His early dispatches from Africa as colonies became independent states.
Kirgiz schodzi z konia
No English edition · available in Polish
A journey through the Muslim republics of the Soviet Union.
Gdyby cała Afryka
No English edition · available in Polish
Further reportage from Africa in the 1960s.
Dlaczego zginął Karl von Spreti
No English edition · available in Polish
The kidnapping and killing of the West German ambassador in Guatemala in 1970.
Chrystus z karabinem na ramieniu
No English edition · available in Polish
Reportage on guerrillas and revolutionaries in Latin America and the Middle East.
Jeszcze dzień życia
Angola in 1975, as the Portuguese withdrew and civil war began; he was among the last reporters in Luanda. In English it is Another Day of Life.
Cesarz
The court of Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia, described through the voices of his former servants after his fall, and read in Poland as a parable of any authoritarian regime. In English it is The Emperor.
Wojna futbolowa
Dispatches from wars and coups in Africa and Latin America, including the short 1969 war between Honduras and El Salvador that followed a football match. In English it is The Soccer War.
Szachinszach
The Iranian revolution and the fall of the Shah. In English it is Shah of Shahs.
Imperium
His journeys across the Soviet Union, from his childhood in Pinsk to its collapse at the end of the 1980s.
Heban
Forty years of travelling and reporting in Africa. In English it is The Shadow of the Sun.
Autoportret reportera
No English edition · available in Polish
Reflections on the reporter's craft, drawn from conversations and talks.
Podróże z Herodotem
His early travels as a young correspondent in India and China, accompanied by Herodotus's Histories. In English it is Travels with Herodotus.
Ten Inny
Lectures on encounters with other cultures, his last book. In English it is The Other.
How Many Books Did Ryszard Kapuściński Write?
Fifteen books of reportage between 1962 and 2006, nine of them available in English, besides poetry and notebooks.
- Africa — from Czarne gwiazdy (1963) to The Shadow of the Sun (1998). Read the entries →
- Empires and revolutions — The Emperor, Shah of Shahs, Imperium. Read the entries →
- Notebooks and poetry — listed further down. See the full list →
In What Order to Read Ryszard Kapuściński
His books are not a series. The Emperor and Shah of Shahs form a pair of studies in the fall of autocrats; The Shadow of the Sun sums up a lifetime in Africa.
A reading path
1. The Emperor (1978)
2. The Shadow of the Sun (1998)
3. Imperium (1993)
4. Shah of Shahs (1982)
5. Travels with Herodotus (2004)
Everything Else Ryszard Kapuściński Wrote: The Full List
Beyond his reportage, notebooks and poetry.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
Notebooks and poetry
3
3 books · 1986–2006
- 1986Notespoems
- 1990Lapidariumthe first of six volumes of notebooks, published until 2007
- 2006Prawa naturypoems
The years · 1932–2007
Quick facts about Ryszard Kapuściński
- Known for
- Ryszard Kapuściński was known for books of reportage, part journalism and part literature, drawn from decades as a foreign correspondent covering coups and revolutions, such as The Emperor.
- 1932
- Born in Pinsk, now in Belarus
- 1962
- First book, Busz po polsku
- 1978
- Cesarz
- 1993
- Imperium
- 2007
- Dies in Warsaw
- Born
- 4 March 1932, Pinsk (now in Belarus)
- Died
- 23 January 2007, Warsaw
- Career
- Foreign correspondent for the Polish Press Agency for more than thirty years
- Translations
- Into some thirty languages
- Debate
- Artur Domosławski's 2010 biography argued that he sometimes mixed fact and invention
- Books
- 15 of reportage, 1962–2006
The red mark is 1978: Cesarz, published in English as The Emperor, his account of Ethiopia as the emperor fell.
How Ryszard Kapuściński Wrote: Reportage as Literature
Kapuściński turned news reporting into literature. He wrote in vivid scenes and images, often with a narrator who reflects on what he sees, and his books are as much about power and history as about events.
That freedom has been questioned: critics, most notably his biographer Artur Domosławski, argued that some scenes were embellished or invented, and his work is now often read as literary reportage rather than strict journalism.
Watch
Ryszard Kapuściński on The Shadow of the Sun
Ryszard Kapuściński speaks at the John Adams Institute in Amsterdam about his life’s work and his book The Shadow of the Sun, an account of his years travelling through Africa. From the official John Adams Institute channel.
Frequently asked questions about Ryszard Kapuściński's books
How many books did Ryszard Kapuściński write?
Ryszard Kapuściński published fifteen books of reportage between 1962 and 2006, as well as volumes of poetry and notebooks.
Which Kapuściński books are in English?
Nine are available in English, including The Emperor, Shah of Shahs, The Soccer War, Another Day of Life, Imperium, The Shadow of the Sun, Travels with Herodotus, The Other and Nobody Leaves.
Where should I start with Kapuściński?
Start with The Emperor (1978) or, for Africa, The Shadow of the Sun (1998).
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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