Author Guide · History & Travel
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Simon Winchester was a young geologist looking for copper in Uganda when he read a book by James Morris about the first ascent of Everest, wrote to the author for advice, and was told to give up geology and get a job on a newspaper. He did. He reported from Belfast on Bloody Sunday, covered Watergate from Washington and, in 1982, spent three months in an Argentine prison on suspicion of being a spy. Then, in 1998, he wrote a book about a murderer who helped make the Oxford English Dictionary, and it became a bestseller. This guide covers his twenty-six books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 26 books · History and travel · 1974–2025 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Simon Winchester has published twenty-six books of his own between 1974 and 2025, besides several collaborations: early reporting and travel books, then, from The Professor and the Madman (1998), the narrative histories he is best known for, about the Oxford English Dictionary, geology, natural disasters, oceans, precision engineering, land, knowledge and, most recently, the wind. Most readers start with The Professor and the Madman or Krakatoa.
Where to Start with Simon Winchester
If you want the famous one
→ The Professor and the Madman (1998).
If you want the most recent
→ The Breath of the Gods (2025).
If you love geology
→ The Map That Changed the World (2001).
If you want a disaster
→ Krakatoa (2003).
All 26 Simon Winchester Books, in Order
In Holy Terror
His first book, drawn from his years as The Guardian's correspondent in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.
American Heartbeat
A journey through the American Midwest, written while he was The Guardian's correspondent in Washington.
Their Noble Lordships
A portrait of the British peerage and the power that still went with a title.
Prison Diary
His account of the three months he spent in prison in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, after being arrested as a suspected spy during the Falklands War.
Outposts
A journey to the scattered islands and territories that remained of the British Empire, also published as The Sun Never Sets.
Korea
A 300-mile walk through South Korea, guided by American aerial navigation maps bought in London.
Pacific Rising
His first book about the Pacific and the rise of the countries around it.
Pacific Nightmare
His only work of fiction: an imagined future history of a war in the Pacific.
The River at the Center of the World
A journey up the Yangtze, from its mouth near Shanghai towards its source, and through the history of China along its banks.
The Professor and the Madman
One of the most prolific contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary was William Chester Minor, an American army surgeon writing from Broadmoor, where he was confined after killing a man in London. Winchester tells the story of his friendship with the dictionary's editor, James Murray. Published in Britain as The Surgeon of Crowthorne, it was his first great success and became a film with Mel Gibson and Sean Penn.
The Fracture Zone
A journey through the Balkans in 1999, during the Kosovo war.
The Map That Changed the World
The story of William Smith, a self-taught surveyor who made the first geological map of a whole country and was ignored, bankrupted and jailed for debt before he was recognised. Winchester's own training as a geologist runs through it.
Krakatoa
The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, its global effects on weather and communications, and what it set off in the Dutch East Indies.
The Meaning of Everything
A return to the Oxford English Dictionary: the full history of how it was made, over seventy years.
A Crack in the Edge of the World
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906, the fire that followed, and the geology that made it inevitable.
The Man Who Loved China
The life of the Cambridge scientist Joseph Needham, who fell in love with China and spent decades documenting the history of Chinese science. Published in Britain as Bomb, Book and Compass.
Atlantic
A biography of the Atlantic Ocean, from geology to human history, in which he also meets one of his former Argentine jailers.
The Alice Behind Wonderland
A short book built around one photograph that Charles Dodgson, Lewis Carroll, took of the young Alice Liddell.
The Men Who United the States
How explorers, engineers and inventors bound the United States together, organised around the classical elements of wood, earth, water, fire and metal.
The Man with the Electrified Brain
A short e-book published by Byliner.
When the Earth Shakes
An introduction to earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis for young readers.
Pacific
A history of the Pacific Ocean since 1950, told through ten events, from atom-bomb tests to the transistor radio.
The Perfectionists
A history of precision engineering, from the eighteenth-century cannon borers to modern jet engines and space telescopes, inspired by his own father's work. Also published as Exactly.
Land
How land came to be owned, divided and fought over, starting from the small farm he bought in Massachusetts.
Knowing What We Know
How knowledge has been passed on, from oral tradition and libraries to encyclopedias, search engines and artificial intelligence.
The Breath of the Gods
His most recent book: a history of the wind, how we have measured, used and feared it, and how it may change.
How Many Books Did Simon Winchester Write?
Twenty-six books of his own between 1974 and 2025, besides several photography books and an anthology made with others.
- Reporting and travel — from In Holy Terror (1974) to The Fracture Zone (1999). Read the entries →
- Narrative histories — from The Professor and the Madman (1998) to The Breath of the Gods (2025). Read the entries →
- Fiction — Pacific Nightmare (1992), his only novel. Read the entries →
- Collaborations — listed further down. See the full list →
In What Order to Read Simon Winchester
His books are not a series, but a few pair naturally: The Professor and the Madman with The Meaning of Everything, both about the Oxford English Dictionary; Atlantic with Pacific; and The Map That Changed the World, Krakatoa and A Crack in the Edge of the World as his three geology books.
A reading path
1. The Professor and the Madman (1998)
2. Krakatoa (2003)
3. The Map That Changed the World (2001)
4. The Perfectionists (2018)
5. Outposts (1985)
Everything Else Simon Winchester Wrote: The Full List
Beyond his twenty-six books, a few made with others: photographs, a collaboration and an anthology he edited with his son.
Open a form with the + to see every book in it.
Collaborations and anthologies
4
4 books · 1983–2004
- 1983Stones of Empire: The Buildings of the Rajphotographs by Winchester, text by Jan Morris
- 1992Hong Kong: Here Be Dragonswith Rich Browne and James Marshall
- 1995Small World: A Global Photographic Project, 1987–94with Martin Parr
- 2004Simon Winchester's Calcuttaedited with Rupert Winchester
Quick facts about Simon Winchester
- Born
- September 28, 1944, London
- Studied
- Geology at St Catherine's College, Oxford
- First job
- Field geologist in Uganda
- Reporter
- The Guardian in Belfast, Calcutta and Washington; The Sunday Times
- Prisoner
- Held for three months in Ushuaia, Argentina, during the Falklands War, 1982
- Honours
- OBE, 2006, for services to journalism and literature
- Citizenship
- American citizen since 2011, sworn in aboard the USS Constitution
- Lives
- Berkshire County, Massachusetts
How Simon Winchester Writes: The Story Behind the Thing
Winchester's histories usually start with a single person or object, a madman's letters to a dictionary, a map, a volcano, and widen from there into a whole field of knowledge. His training as a geologist and his years as a foreign correspondent both show: he likes the physical world and he likes a scene.
He writes as a guide rather than a specialist, with digressions, footnotes and his own experiences woven in, so that a book about the wind or precision engineering reads like a story told by someone who has been there.
Simon Winchester in depth, on C-SPAN
Watch the interview on C-SPAN →
A long In Depth interview with Simon Winchester about his books and career, C-SPAN, August 2004.Frequently asked questions about Simon Winchester's books
How many books has Simon Winchester written?
Simon Winchester has published twenty-six books of his own, from In Holy Terror (1974) to The Breath of the Gods (2025), as well as several photography books and an anthology made with others.
What is Simon Winchester's newest book?
His most recent book is The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind (2025).
Is The Professor and the Madman a true story?
Yes. The Professor and the Madman (1998) tells the true story of William Chester Minor, a confined murderer who became one of the most important contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary, and of its editor James Murray.
Where should I start with Simon Winchester?
Most readers start with The Professor and the Madman (1998). If you prefer geology and natural disasters, Krakatoa (2003) is the best starting point.
Footnotes
- Simon Winchester — Wikipedia
- Simon Winchester — British Council Literature
- Simon Winchester — NYI Humanities
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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