Author Guide · Nature Writing & Primatology
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On 14 July 1960 a 26-year-old Englishwoman with no university degree stepped ashore at Gombe Stream, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, with her mother as chaperone and a commission from the palaeontologist Louis Leakey to watch wild chimpanzees. Within months she saw a male she had named David Greybeard strip the leaves from a twig and use it to fish termites from a mound, and the line between humans and other animals had to be redrawn. Jane Goodall spent the next 65 years writing about what she saw: first the chimpanzees, then the people who hunt, cage and study them, and finally the reasons she kept hoping. She died on 1 October 2025, aged 91, on a speaking tour in California. This guide covers her 12 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 12 key books · 1971–2021 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Jane Goodall’s best-known books are In the Shadow of Man (1971), her account of her first decade at Gombe, Through a Window (1990), Reason for Hope (1999) and The Book of Hope (2021). Start with In the Shadow of Man; the later books build on the chimpanzees and the method it introduces.
Where to Start with Jane Goodall
If you want her defining book
→ In the Shadow of Man (1971) — the first decade at Gombe and the chimpanzees who made her name.
If you want what happened next at Gombe
→ Through a Window (1990) — the darker sequel, including the four-year chimpanzee war.
If you want her life and beliefs
→ Reason for Hope (1999) — her spiritual autobiography.
If you want her case for hope today
→ The Book of Hope (2021) — a book of conversations from 2021.
12 Jane Goodall Books, in Order
In the Shadow of Man
Goodall’s account of her first ten years at Gombe Stream from 1960: how the chimpanzees slowly accepted her, how David Greybeard showed her tool use and meat-eating, and the family life of the old female Flo and her children Fifi and Flint. It is illustrated with photographs by Hugo van Lawick, her first husband, and became her best-known book.
The Chimpanzees of Gombe
Her scientific monograph, published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, drawing together a quarter-century of field data on the Gombe chimpanzees: their social structure, ranging, hunting, tool use, sexual behaviour and aggression. It is written for researchers rather than general readers and remains a standard reference.
Through a Window
The sequel to In the Shadow of Man, covering the 1970s and 1980s. It describes the deaths of Flo and Flint, the female Passion and her daughter Pom killing and eating infants in their own community, and the four-year war in which the Kasakela chimpanzees wiped out a breakaway group to the south. The book closes with her turn towards conservation and animal welfare.
Visions of Caliban
Written with Dale Peterson, the book moves from wild chimpanzees to the ones in human hands: animals caught for the pet and entertainment trades, kept in zoos and used in biomedical laboratories, and the loss of their forest habitat in Africa. It argues that what science had learned about chimpanzees made their treatment indefensible.
Reason for Hope
Written with Phillip Berman, this is Goodall’s spiritual autobiography: her childhood in Bournemouth during the Second World War, her years at Gombe, the death of her second husband Derek Bryceson from cancer in 1980, and how she reconciled her faith with evolution and kept hope in the face of environmental destruction.
Africa in My Blood
The first of two volumes of her letters, edited by Dale Peterson, running from her childhood to the mid-1960s. Written mostly to her family, they record her journey to Kenya, her work for Louis Leakey and the first years at Gombe as they happened, before any of it became a story she told in public.
Beyond Innocence
The second volume of letters, also edited by Dale Peterson, from the late 1960s onwards: her marriage to Hugo van Lawick and its end, her marriage to Derek Bryceson, the growth of the research station and the founding of the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, and her shift from field scientist to travelling campaigner.
The Ten Trusts
Co-written with the biologist Marc Bekoff, the book sets out ten principles for how humans should treat other animals, wild, farmed and kept, each illustrated with examples from their own work and from other researchers.
Harvest for Hope
Written with Gary McAvoy and Gail Hudson, it turns to food: industrial farming and its effects on animals, land and water, pesticides, genetically modified crops and overfishing, and the case for eating locally, organically and with less meat.
Hope for Animals and Their World
Written with Thane Maynard and Gail Hudson, the book collects stories of species brought back from near extinction, among them the California condor and the black-footed ferret, and of the field biologists and breeding programmes behind them.
Seeds of Hope
Written with Gail Hudson, a book about plants: trees she knew as a child, the forests of Gombe, medicinal plants, seed banks and the politics of agriculture. Its planned April 2013 release was postponed after The Washington Post found passages copied without credit from websites, including Wikipedia. Goodall apologised, and it came out on 1 April 2014 with 57 pages of endnotes.
The Book of Hope
A book of conversations with Douglas Abrams, written with Gail Hudson and published in October 2021, about how to stay hopeful amid climate change, pandemics and the loss of biodiversity. Goodall sets out her four reasons for hope: the human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of young people and the indomitable human spirit, with stories from her own life.
In What Order to Read Jane Goodall
Her books fall into three groups, and publication order follows them. In the Shadow of Man, The Chimpanzees of Gombe and Through a Window are the Gombe books; read the first and third together, as one story told twenty years apart. Visions of Caliban, The Ten Trusts and Harvest for Hope are her campaigning books, about how humans treat animals and land.
The “hope” books, from Reason for Hope to The Book of Hope, are the most personal and can be read on their own. The two volumes of letters, Africa in My Blood and Beyond Innocence, work best after In the Shadow of Man, when you know the people and places in them.
A reading path
1. In the Shadow of Man (1971)
2. Through a Window (1990)
3. Reason for Hope (1999)
4. Hope for Animals and Their World (2009)
5. The Book of Hope (2021)
Everything Else Jane Goodall Published
Beyond the 12 key books: 11 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Early and photographic books
4
4 books · 1967–2000
- 1967My Friends the Wild Chimpanzeesher first book, for the National Geographic Society
- 1970Innocent Killerson hyenas, wild dogs and jackals, with Hugo van Lawick
- 1999Brutal Kinshipwith photographs by Michael Nichols
- 200040 Years at Gombea photographic record of the research
Children’s books
7
7 books · 1972–2004
- 1972Grub: The Bush Babyabout her son, with Hugo van Lawick
- 1988My Life with the Chimpanzeesher life story for young readers
- 1989The Chimpanzee Family Book
- 1999Dr. Whiteillustrated by Julie Litty
- 2000The Eagle & the Wrena fable, illustrated by Alexander Reichstein
- 2001Chimpanzees I Love
- 2004Rickie and Henria true story, with Alan Marks
The years · 1934–2025
Quick facts about Jane Goodall
- Known for
- Jane Goodall is known for her study of wild chimpanzees at Gombe, Tanzania, from 1960, which showed that they make and use tools, and for her later decades campaigning for animals and the environment.
- 1934
- Born in Hampstead, London
- 1977
- Founds the Jane Goodall Institute
- 1991
- Roots & Shoots youth programme begins
- 2025
- Dies on a US speaking tour, aged 91
- Born
- 3 April 1934, Hampstead, London; grew up in Bournemouth
- Died
- 1 October 2025, California, aged 91
- Education
- PhD in ethology, University of Cambridge, 1965, without a first degree
- Married
- Hugo van Lawick (1964–1974), one son; Derek Bryceson (1975 until his death in 1980)
- Founded
- The Jane Goodall Institute (1977) and Roots & Shoots (1991)
- Honours
- Kyoto Prize (1990), Dame Commander (DBE, invested 2004), Templeton Prize (2021), US Presidential Medal of Freedom (2025)
The red mark is 1971: In the Shadow of Man, her account of the first decade at Gombe.
How Jane Goodall Writes: From Field Notes to Hope
Goodall writes from her field notes. Her Gombe books are built from days of watching named individuals, so the chimpanzees appear as characters with histories: Flo and her family, David Greybeard, Passion and Pom. Naming them instead of numbering them was criticised by some scientists at the time, and it is also what makes the books read like family sagas.
She is plain about what she does not like to see. Through a Window describes infanticide and the extermination of a whole chimpanzee group in the same calm, detailed way as grooming and play, and she admitted it changed her view of chimpanzees as gentler than humans. Her early research also relied on feeding stations with bananas, which critics later argued had changed the animals’ behaviour; she said she would not use them today.
From Visions of Caliban onwards most of her books were written with a collaborator, among them Dale Peterson, Phillip Berman, Gail Hudson and Douglas Abrams, and they shift from observation to argument. The tone is that of her lectures: a story from Gombe or her childhood, then a practical point about what readers can do. Hope is the word she returned to most, and five of her book titles use it.
Watch
What separates us from chimpanzees?
At TED2003 Goodall talks about her years at Gombe and argues that sophisticated language is what most separates humans from chimpanzees.
Frequently asked questions about Jane Goodall’s books
How many books has Jane Goodall written?
More than 25, counting her children’s books and the photographic books. The 12 key books on this page run from In the Shadow of Man (1971) to The Book of Hope (2021); many of the later ones were written with a co-author.
What are Jane Goodall’s books in order?
In the Shadow of Man (1971), The Chimpanzees of Gombe (1986), Through a Window (1990), Visions of Caliban (1993), Reason for Hope (1999), Africa in My Blood (2000), Beyond Innocence (2001), The Ten Trusts (2002), Harvest for Hope (2005), Hope for Animals and Their World (2009), Seeds of Hope (2014) and The Book of Hope (2021). Her first book, My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees, appeared in 1967.
Where should I start with Jane Goodall?
In the Shadow of Man (1971), her account of the first ten years at Gombe. If you prefer her life and beliefs to the chimpanzees, start with Reason for Hope (1999).
What is Jane Goodall’s most famous book?
In the Shadow of Man (1971), which introduced general readers to the Gombe chimpanzees and to her discovery that they make and use tools.
Is Jane Goodall still alive?
No. Jane Goodall died on 1 October 2025, aged 91, in her sleep in California, where she was on a speaking tour. The Jane Goodall Institute announced her death the same day.
What did Jane Goodall discover?
In late 1960, a few months after arriving at Gombe, she saw the chimpanzee David Greybeard strip a twig and use it to fish termites from a mound. Until then tool-making was thought to be uniquely human. She also recorded chimpanzees hunting and eating meat and, later, warfare between communities, described in Through a Window.
What was the Seeds of Hope plagiarism controversy?
Before its planned April 2013 publication, The Washington Post found that Seeds of Hope contained passages copied without attribution from websites, including Wikipedia and an organic tea company. The publisher postponed the book and Goodall apologised; it was released on 1 April 2014 after a review, with 57 pages of endnotes added.
What are the four reasons for hope in The Book of Hope?
The amazing human intellect, the resilience of nature, the power of young people and the indomitable human spirit. The book, written as conversations with Douglas Abrams, was published in October 2021.
Are there films about Jane Goodall?
Several. National Geographic made Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees (1965), and Brett Morgen’s documentary Jane (2017) used rediscovered footage shot by Hugo van Lawick, with music by Philip Glass. Netflix released Famous Last Words, an interview she recorded in March 2025 on condition that it be shown only after her death.
What awards did Jane Goodall win?
Among many others, the Kyoto Prize (1990), the Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society (1995), the Templeton Prize (2021) and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom (January 2025). She was made a UN Messenger of Peace in 2002 and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, invested in 2004.
Footnotes
- Jane Goodall — Wikipedia
- World-renowned chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall dies at 91 — Khaleej Times, 2025
- Goodall book postponed due to plagiarism claims — Publishers Weekly
- Visions of Caliban — Kirkus Reviews
- Jane As An Educator — Jane Goodall Institute
- Famous Last Words: Dr. Jane Goodall — Netflix Tudum
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
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.
“Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.”
— Jane Goodall, as quoted by the Jane Goodall Institute
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