David McCullough Books In Order

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

David McCullough is a great American writer, narrator, lecturer and historian. He was born on July 7, 1933. He has won Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award twice and he has also won National Book Award and was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. The latest is the highest Civilian Award of the United States. He is a writer that has won many national and local writers’ awards and his works have often been adopted by television companies such as HBO.

McCullough was born and grew up in Pittsburgh, and he earned his English literature degree from prestigious Yale University. The first published book he had was The Johnstown Flood (1968) and after he has written similar nine topics which were Harry S. Truman, John Adams, Brooklyn Bridge and Wright brothers. Additionally, he has authored series of documentaries like the Civil War and the 2003 film Seabiscuit. David McCullough has hosted American Experience for twelve years. His two Pulitzer Prize winner books, John Adams and Truman, are presented as TV Films and miniseries by HBO.

The author was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania neighborhood of Point Breeze. He has Scotch Irish descent and his mother is Ruth Rankin; his father is Christian Hax McCullough. Initially he was taught at Shady Side Academy and Linden Avenue Grade School. Being one of four male children in family, he had a wonderful childhood and adopted many interests, including cartoon drawing and sports. David McCullough loved school, and he loved attending every day, and he contemplated many career choices, ranging from writer, architect, painter, actor, to lawyer, and almost decided on attending medical school for a time.”

In 1951 he started attending legendary Yale University. As he has often mentioned, it was a “privilege” for him to study English there because he was taught by John Hersey, John O’Hara, Brendan Gill, and Robert Penn Warren. He often had lunch with Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and writer Thornton Wilder. Mr. Wilder often mentioned that David taught him how to maintain “an air of freedom” in the storyline, and he meant that the reader should not anticipate the outcome, regardless that the book is non-fiction. While studying at Yale University, he was a part of Skull and Bones and served as researcher at Time, Life, and American Heritage. He was a very good student and graduated with honors in 1955, and decided upon becoming a fiction writer or a playwright.

After he had a lot of success by The Johnstown Flood, two additional publishers agreed to offer him new employment, one to write about the Great Chicago fire and the other about San Francisco earthquake. The publisher of his first book, Simon & Schuster, also offered him to contract to write his second success. McCullough decided not to always be a bad news writer and therefore he wanted to express that “”people were not always foolish and inept or irresponsible.” He kept his Yale University teacher Thornton Wilder’s word in mind, to get the idea of a book or a play, while you want to learn something new. Check and see if anyone has done that, and if not, then do it yourself. McCullough decided to write a history book about Brooklyn Bridge, which he had walked many times. He mentioned that history is a good source for happiness. It is not only a part of civic education or responsibility. To him it appeared an enlargement of being alive, comparable to literature and music.

He had many ideas and wanted to keep writing more works. His editor suggested to write a book about Panama Canal, and both books were accepted by the publisher. Five years after The Path Between The Seas: The Creation of Panama Canal was released, and achieved lot of recognition from readers and critics. This book won National Book Award in History and additionally it was a winner of Samuel Eliot Morison prize and Francis Parkman Prize. In 1977 the author traveled to White House to advise Jimmy Carter and the United States Senate about Torrijos Carter Treaties, that gave Panama the ownership of the Canal. Later Carter acknowledged that this would not happen if it not been for the book.

In 1981, Mornings on Horseback told the life story of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. “The work is plotted starting from 1869, when Roosevelt was ten years old, and goes to 1886, and tells of a “life intensely lived.” The book won McCullough’s second National Book Award and McCullough’s first Los Angeles Times Prize for Biography and New York Public Library Literary Lion Award.” This was McCullough’s second book that won National Award and the first Los Angeles Times Prize winning work. After, he published Brave Companions, which was a collection of essays that “unfold seamlessly.” The book was written for twenty years and included series of essays. In 1993 McCullough published a book about 33rd president of the United States called Truman. This was author’s first Pulitzer Prize winning work and his second Francis Parkman Prize winner. About two years later the book was taken by HBO into a television film Truman (1995), starring Gary Sinise as President Truman.

Proceeding seven years McCullough has worked and published John Adams (2001), his third biography about United States president. The latest was one of the fastest selling non-fiction books in history. And this was author’s second book that won Pulitzer Prize for “Best Biography or Autobiography.” His work was initiated about founding fathers and “back to back” president John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, but as a plot went, he dropped Jefferson and focused on Adams. HBO has taken John Adams into a seven part miniseries by the same name and introduced it in 2008.

Later McCullough’s 1776 was another great historic book that told about George Washington and the American struggle for independence. The great writer went force and wrote a sequel for 1776, called The Great Journey, which was published in 2011.

In general David McCullough is a great writer and his works had done tremendous influence on American history and literature. He is known not only for his great works that are appreciated by readers and critics but also for being of great interest for television and movies.

4 Responses to “David McCullough”

1. Tish floyd: 1 year ago

   Absolutely love David McCullough’ s books. They never fail to keep me turning the page onward to more and more history! I devoured Truman and got the series on John Adams. Theodore Roosevelt kept me on edge as well. I was hoping for one last book on another president. Sorry we lost him. Truly missed, tish

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2. Dan Barie: 2 years ago

   I first started to read a copy of 1776 that I purchased at a used bookstore in Chicago. I hadn’t the time to continue, and I was sorry that I had to leave for a later time. One thing that I did discover, however, was that only a cursory read of David McCullough was enough for me to know that I had discovered my new favorite author. I listened to the audio version of The Wright Brothers (twice) and my wife gave me a copy as a gift—I devoured it! I immediately purchased The Johnstown Flood and could not put the book down. Now I am reading The Great Bride—absolutely fascinating story telling of a monumental event in our American history. I will purchase and read all of Mr. McCullough’s books in succession.

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3. Robert Hennessy: 2 years ago

   David McCollough had such a gift for story telling. When you read “Truman” or “The Wright Brothers” you feel like you knew those people. You feel as if they were your next door neighbors growing up. That is truly remarkable story telling.

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4. Madelyn Newman: 3 years ago

   I am an avid reader and I have read a plethora of books of all kinds but my favorite author is David McCullough! I love history and Mr. McCullough is a wonderful historian!!

   Madelyn Newman

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