Taylor Caldwell books

Barbours/Bouchards Reading Order

Non-Fiction

Short Stories/Novellas

Standalone Novels

Taylor Caldwell (1900-1985) was born Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell in Manchester, England, and moved to the United States as a child. She published her first novel, Dynasty of Death, in 1938, launching a career that would produce more than forty books over four decades. Her novels ranged from intimate character studies to grand historical narratives set against the backdrop of major world events.

Caldwell had a particular gift for writing about ambitious families and the corrupting influence of wealth and power. The Barbours/Bouchards trilogy follows an industrial dynasty through generations of conflict and ambition. Her biblical and historical novels, including Dear and Glorious Physician (about Saint Luke) and Great Lion of God (about Saint Paul), drew large readerships and showed her range as a storyteller.

Several of her books became bestsellers, and Captains and the Kings was adapted into a television miniseries in 1976. Though her style fell out of critical fashion in later decades, her books remain in print and continue to find readers who appreciate her old-fashioned approach to storytelling on a large canvas.