Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abraham Lincoln | 1960 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 2 | Mao Zedong: A Life | 1999 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 3 | Mozart: A Life | 1999 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 4 | Marcel Proust | 1999 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 5 | Crazy Horse | 1999 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 6 | Saint Augustine | 1999 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 7 | James Joyce | 1999 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 8 | Rosa Parks | 2000 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 9 | Virginia Woolf | 2000 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 10 | Woodrow Wilson | 2000 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 11 | Herman Melville | 2000 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 12 | Leonardo da Vinci: A Life | 2000 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 13 | Dante | 2001 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 14 | Jane Austen | 2001 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 15 | Buddha | 2001 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 16 | Simone Weil | 2001 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 17 | Andy Warhol: A Biography | 2001 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 18 | Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life | 2001 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 19 | Joseph Smith | 2002 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 20 | Winston Churchill: A Life | 2002 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 21 | Pope John XXIII | 2002 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 22 | Charles Dickens | 2002 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 23 | Elvis Presley | 2002 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 24 | Saint Therese of Lisieux | 2003 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 25 | Robert E. Lee | 2003 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 26 | Frank Lloyd Wright: A Life | 2004 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 27 | George Herbert Walker Bush | 2004 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 28 | Napoleon | 2006 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 29 | Julia Child | 2007 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 30 | Joan of Arc | 2008 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 31 | Martin Luther | 2008 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
| 32 | Branch Rickey: A Life | 2011 | Jane Smiley | Buy |
The Penguin Lives series is a collection of 32 short biographies published between 1960 and 2011. Each book focuses on a single historical figure, covering subjects as varied as Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, Rosa Parks, Napoleon, Julia Child, and Joan of Arc. The entries are written as brief, accessible looks at the lives of well-known people from politics, the arts, religion, and other fields.
Since every book is a self-contained biography, there is no need to read the series in any particular order. Readers can pick the subjects that interest them most. The bulk of the series appeared between 1999 and 2008, with the final entry, Branch Rickey: A Life, arriving in 2011.
With 32 volumes spanning figures from different centuries and disciplines, the Penguin Lives series works well for readers who want a concise introduction to a famous person’s life without committing to a full-length biography.