Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abraham Lincoln | 1960 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 2 | Mao Zedong: A Life | 1999 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 3 | Mozart: A Life | 1999 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 4 | Marcel Proust | 1999 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 5 | Crazy Horse | 1999 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 6 | Saint Augustine | 1999 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 7 | James Joyce | 1999 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 8 | Rosa Parks | 2000 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 9 | Virginia Woolf | 2000 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 10 | Woodrow Wilson | 2000 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 11 | Herman Melville | 2000 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 12 | Leonardo da Vinci: A Life | 2000 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 13 | Dante | 2001 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 14 | Jane Austen | 2001 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 15 | Buddha | 2001 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 16 | Simone Weil | 2001 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 17 | Andy Warhol: A Biography | 2001 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 18 | Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life | 2001 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 19 | Joseph Smith | 2002 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 20 | Winston Churchill: A Life | 2002 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 21 | Pope John XXIII | 2002 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 22 | Charles Dickens | 2002 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 23 | Elvis Presley | 2002 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 24 | Saint Therese of Lisieux | 2003 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 25 | Robert E. Lee | 2003 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 26 | Frank Lloyd Wright: A Life | 2004 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 27 | George Herbert Walker Bush | 2004 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 28 | Napoleon | 2006 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 29 | Julia Child | 2007 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 30 | Joan of Arc | 2008 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 31 | Martin Luther | 2008 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
| 32 | Branch Rickey: A Life | 2011 | Edna O’Brien | Buy |
The Penguin Lives series commissioned distinguished writers to produce short biographies of historical figures, with each book running around 200 pages. Edna O’Brien contributed the volume on James Joyce, published in 1999, bringing her deep personal connection to Joyce’s work and Ireland to the biographical format.
The series spans a wide range of subjects — political leaders (Lincoln, Churchill, Mao), religious figures (Buddha, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther), artists and writers (Leonardo da Vinci, Jane Austen, Dante), and cultural icons (Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol, Julia Child). Each biography reflects the author’s particular perspective and literary style as much as it documents its subject.