Erik Larson Non-Fiction Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Naked Consumer | 1992 | Buy |
| Lethal Passage | 1994 | Buy |
| Isaac’s Storm | 1999 | Buy |
| The Devil in the White City | 2003 | Buy |
| Thunderstruck | 2006 | Buy |
| Myokardium | 2009 | Buy |
| In the Garden of Beasts | 2011 | Buy |
| Dead Wake | 2015 | Buy |
| The Splendid and the Vile | 2020 | Buy |
| The Demon of Unrest | 2024 | Buy |
Non-Fiction
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Naked Consumer | 1992 | Buy |
| Lethal Passage | 1994 | Buy |
| Isaac’s Storm | 1999 | Buy |
| The Devil in the White City | 2003 | Buy |
| Thunderstruck | 2006 | Buy |
| Myokardium | 2009 | Buy |
| In the Garden of Beasts | 2011 | Buy |
| Dead Wake | 2015 | Buy |
| The Splendid and the Vile | 2020 | Buy |
| The Demon of Unrest | 2024 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| No One Goes Alone | 2021 | Buy |
Erik Larson is one of the most widely read narrative non-fiction writers working today. His approach is to take real historical events and tell them with the pacing and tension of a novel, often weaving together parallel storylines that seem unrelated until they converge. The Devil in the White City (2003) is his most famous book, cutting between architect Daniel Burnham’s race to build the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and serial killer H.H. Holmes operating in its shadow.
Larson has returned to this dual-narrative approach in several books. Dead Wake (2015) tells the story of the Lusitania’s final voyage alongside the German U-boat commander who sank it. The Splendid and the Vile (2020) follows Winston Churchill through the London Blitz. His most recent book, The Demon of Unrest (2024), examines the months leading up to the Civil War. Earlier works like Isaac’s Storm (1999) and Thunderstruck (2006) apply the same method to a devastating hurricane and the invention of wireless telegraphy, respectively.
His one novel, No One Goes Alone (2021), is a ghost story and a departure from his usual territory. But Larson’s reputation rests on his non-fiction, which has brought him both critical praise and large commercial audiences.