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The Lanny Budd Novels
Series · 12
books · 1940-2016

Books in series

World's End book cover
#1

World's End

1940

World's End is the first novel in Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series. First published in 1940, the story covers the period from 1913 to 1919. This is the beginning of a monumental 7,340 page novel, the story of Lanny Budd, a young American, beginning in Europe in 1913. It is also an intimate record of a great world which fell victim to its own civilization. A new world was about to be born.
Between Two Worlds book cover
#2

Between Two Worlds

1941

From the rise of Fascism in Europe to the stock market crash on Wall Street, the second installment of this Pulitzer Prize–winning series of historical novels captures the drama, intrigue, and excitement of the Roaring Twenties The First World War brought an abrupt end to Lanny Budd’s idyllic youth. Now, in the wake of the Treaty of Versailles, he barely recognizes the beloved Europe of his boyhood. At the start of his career as an international art dealer, Lanny travels to Italy and witnesses the brutal charisma of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. Meanwhile, in Germany, the failed Beer Hall Putsch led by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party strikes an ominous note foreshadowing the devastation to come. After two star-crossed love affairs, Lanny marries a wealthy heiress and chooses the United States with its booming economy as their home. But neither he nor those he loves can predict the financial disaster that will bring a decade of prosperity to an abrupt close. Between Two Worlds brings one of the most fascinating and tumultuous decades of the twentieth century to thrilling life. A spellbinding mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
Dragon's Teeth book cover
#3

Dragon's Teeth

1942

Pulitzer Prize Winner: An American in Germany fights against the rising tide of Nazi terror in this monumental saga of twentieth-century world history. In the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, Lanny Budd’s financial acumen and his marriage into great wealth enable him to continue the lifestyle he has always enjoyed. But the devastation the collapse has wrought on ordinary citizens has only strengthened Lanny’s socialist ideals—much to the chagrin of his heiress wife, Irma, a confirmed capitalist. In Germany to visit relatives, Lanny encounters a disturbing atmosphere of hatred and jingoism. His concern over the growing popularity of the Nazi Party escalates when he meets Adolf Hitler, the group’s fanatical leader, and the members of his inner circle. But Lanny’s gravest fear is the threat a national socialist government poses to the German Jewish family of Hansi, the musician husband of Lanny’s sister, Bess—a threat that will impel the international art dealer to risk his wealth, his future, even his life in a courageous attempt to rescue his loved ones from a terrible fate. Winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Dragon’s Teeth brilliantly captures the nightmarish march toward the Second World War. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
Wide Is the Gate book cover
#4

Wide Is the Gate

1943

Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning saga continues as Lanny Budd faces the horrors of Nazi Germany and steps into the fire of the Spanish Civil War Lanny Budd’s dedication to social justice and political action has placed a serious strain on his marriage to his heiress wife, Irma, but as he moves through the 1930s, the international art dealer is unable to turn a blind eye to what is happening in Europe. As the Nazi Party solidifies its power in Germany, Lanny recognizes a golden opportunity to make a difference when his arms dealer father strikes a business agreement with Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command. Robbie Budd’s alliance with the Luftwaffe commander and Lanny’s art world reputation enable the younger Budd to move easily among the Nazi high command and gather valuable information he can transmit back to those who are dedicated to the destruction of Nazism and Fascism. It is a dangerous—albeit necessary—game that Lanny is playing, and it will carry him from Germany to Spain on a life-and-death mission on the eve of the Spanish Civil War. The fourth installment of an eleven-book series, Wide Is the Gate continues Upton Sinclair’s literary journey through the tumult of the twentieth century. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
Presidential Agent book cover
#5

Presidential Agent

1944

On the eve of World War II, Lanny Budd reenters the deadly snake pit of Nazi Germany as a presidential spy An American art expert raised in a world of European wealth and privilege, Lanny Budd is dedicated to his socialist ideals and to combatting the twin scourges of Nazism and Fascism. In 1937, a chance encounter in New York with Professor Charles Alston—his boss at the Paris Peace Conference and now one of President Roosevelt’s top advisors—provides Lanny with the opportunity to make a profound difference. Appointed Presidential Agent 103, the international art dealer embarks on a secret assignment that takes him back into the Third Reich as the Allied powers prepare to cede Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler in a futile attempt to avoid war. But Lanny’s motivations are not just political: The woman he loves has fallen into the brutal hands of the Gestapo, and Lanny will risk everything to save her. Presidential Agent is the action-packed fifth installment of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to dramatic life. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
Dragon Harvest book cover
#6

Dragon Harvest

1945

Lanny Budd infiltrates the Nazi high command in the riveting sixth chapter of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning series of historical novels Dashing and well-connected, Lanny Budd has earned the trust of the Nazi high command. To Adolf Hitler and his inner circle, the American art dealer is a “true believer” committed to their Fascist cause. But Lanny is actually a secret agent serving as President Franklin Roosevelt’s eyes and ears in Germany. When he learns of the Führer’s plans for conquest, Lanny’s dire warnings to Neville Chamberlain and other reluctant European leaders fall on deaf ears. The bitter seeds sown decades earlier with the Treaty of Versailles are now bearing fruit, and there will be no stopping the Nazi war machine as it rolls relentlessly on toward Paris. Dragon Harvest captures the dramatic moment when world leaders realized that in trying to appease Hitler, they made a grave mistake. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
A World to Win book cover
#7

A World to Win

1946

Presidential secret agent Lanny Budd is targeted by allies and enemies alike as the deadly tide of war rolls across Europe Europe, 1940. As war rages across the continent, America watches anxiously from the sidelines. And President Franklin Roosevelt has been keeping an even closer eye on developments in the Third Reich. At the president’s personal request, Lanny Budd gained the confidence of the Nazi high command and began transmitting valuable information back to the White House. Espionage is a dangerous game, however, and Presidential Agent 103 soon finds himself a target of the French Resistance fighters he is attempting to assist. On a trip to London, Lanny avoids death during a Luftwaffe bombing raid and takes part in the capture of Rudolf Hess. He gets stranded in Asia and is forced to make his way across war-torn China after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor finally brings the United States into the global melee. But Lanny’s most important mission still lies before him: He must enter the lion’s den alone and unprotected once more to unearth the Nazi Party’s most deeply buried secret—the progress of Hitler’s scientists in the race to build the atom bomb. A World to Win is the electrifying seventh chapter of the Pulitzer Prize–winning series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to vivid life. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
Presidential Mission book cover
#8

Presidential Mission

1947

Presidential Mission is the eighth book in the epic World's End Lanny Budd series written by Upton Sinclair in 1947. This thrilling book covers the period of history between 1942 and 1943. The reader has read of the many adventures of Lanny Budd, world citizen extraordinary, who has used his art expertise and Fascist and Nazi sympathies as camouflage for his work as Presidential Agent 103 for President Roosevelt since 1938.The beginning of the end of Nazism and Fascism has begun with the weight of the United States military entering the World War at the end of 1941. Now as US troops, planes, ships and political will escalates, particularly in North Africa, Lanny is sent by FDR to Algiers in advance of the American and British African invasion with an ingenious plan to fool the German High Command as to where the United States will strike first. The Allies are preparing for the massive invasion of Germany across the English Channel Lanny is sent to Algiers to convince the French to stand together as the Allies prepare for the North African. This is no small task. France is half controlled by Nazi Germany and the rest under semi German control under the Vichy Government. The large industrialist and bankers want to make peace with Germany so that they can continue to control the economy and their way of life, while the underground, the liberals, socialists and workers in general want a free democratically run government, if not a socialist one.There is an interesting interview Lanny has with the devilish Juan March, the financier of Franco and his gangsters who have taken control of the previously democratically elected Spanish government. As a Nazi sympathizer he attempts to get Lanny to convince FRD and Churchill that a truce with Germany would be the best for Europe and the United States. All that Hitler wants is to end the "Red Menace" (Russia) and maintain the countries which he has already seized and the British Empire can remain as is. The United States can have Central and South America as well as Japan. This type of intrigue is prevalent throughout the entire book The ultra rich aristocrats who simply want to retain their money and power and keep the unions and workers down. (Does this sound eerily familiar?) Lanny is instructed by FDR to visit General Stalin to enlist the Russians as allies in the war against the Nazi's and Fascists. In one of the most spectacular of Lanny's adventures, he must parachute from a damaged airplane taking him to Moscow into the Sahara desert. For Lanny this is the most danger he has ever been in. He nearly dies of thirst until rescued by a caravan of Arab camel drivers. He is then forced back into Germany as the caravan approaches a German road block. In Germany Lanny plays his usual role with Hitler and the Nazi's. By now Hitler has made his fatal decision to make war on two fronts, against Britain and now his former ally, Stalin and the Russians. In an amusing scene, Lanny having visited Hess in his prison cell and having asked Hess for something to prove that he has met Hess, is given Hess' wedding band given to Hess by Hitler that is specifically engraved. This piece of jewelry is priceless to Lanny's work for FDR as he attempts to gather information as to how far along the Germans scientists are with atomic fission and heavy water and jet propulsion. All of this intrigue goes on as Berlin is incessantly bombed, If the reader wishes to fully appreciate this great historical narrative I strongly encourage the reader to begin with World's End and read the series in the order in which Upton painstakingly and meticulously wrote the eleven books. There are only three books left after Presidential Mission and you will hardly be able to wait to read them.Please visit our website coming soon www.uptonsinclair-lannybudd-completeh.... There you can order any or all of the Lanny Budd series books at 20%, 25% and 30% off with free shipping.
One Clear Call book cover
#9

One Clear Call

1948

As D-Day approaches, an American spy is unmasked by Himmler’s Gestapo and must flee the Nazis, in this novel in the Pulitzer Prize–winning historical saga. In 1943, the once-unstoppable Nazi war machine is starting to falter. For a decade and a half, Lanny Budd’s cover as a fine-art dealer and Fascist sympathizer has held firm, earning him the confidence of Hermann Göring and other top officials, including Adolf Hitler himself. With the Allies preparing to retake Europe, Lanny must make certain that the location of the invasion remains hidden from the Nazi high command. But his mission is compromised and his life endangered when Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s feared Gestapo chief, uncovers Lanny’s true loyalties. Now FDR’s most trusted spy must run for his life, escaping into the European countryside with Hitler’s executioners on his trail. His survival will require great courage, endurance, and ingenuity, but Lanny Budd is determined to live long enough to witness what he has waited so many years to the final collapse of the Third Reich. One Clear Call is the thrilling ninth installment of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning dramatization of twentieth-century world history. An astonishing mix of adventure, romance, and political intrigue, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
O Shepherd, Speak! book cover
#10

O Shepherd, Speak!

1949

As Presidential Agent 103, Lanny Budd witnesses the collapse of the Nazis, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the Nuremberg Trials in this novel in the Pulitzer Prize–winning saga. As a spy for President Franklin Roosevelt, Lanny Budd was able to infiltrate the inner circle of the Nazi high command and glean essential information on behalf of the Allied cause. Now, as the terrible global conflict approaches its long-awaited conclusion, the newly commissioned Captain Budd of the US Army is on hand to witness the final collapse of the Third Reich in the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge. The nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brings World War II to an end, but not even the death of Franklin Roosevelt can release Lanny from his obligations as Presidential Agent 103. A devastated Europe needs to be rebuilt, and there is a necessary reckoning still to come in the heart of defeated Germany, where the fanatics who murdered countless millions will stand trial for their crimes. O Shepherd, Speak! is the penultimate volume of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning dramatization of twentieth-century world history. An astonishing mix of adventure, romance, and political intrigue, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
The Return of Lanny Budd book cover
#11

The Return of Lanny Budd

1953

Presidential secret agent Lanny Budd is called back into action in post-war Germany as the Cold War begins Since the age of thirteen, Lanny Budd has been more than an eyewitness to history. From the Paris Peace Conference to the Battle of the Bulge, he has played key roles in the extraordinary events of his age. Now, forty years later, Presidential Agent 103 is coming out of retirement to serve his country—and the free world—once more. A counterfeiting conspiracy hatched by unrepentant neo-Nazis threatens to gravely damage America’s efforts to rebuild and stabilize a divided Germany. Lanny’s previous experience, as well as his unexpected connection to one of the chief conspirators, makes him the ideal operative to foil the sinister plot. But when he infiltrates the Russian-controlled sector, what Lanny sees makes his blood run cold. Communist leader and former US ally Joseph Stalin has twisted the socialist ideals he holds dear into weapons of tyranny, oppression, and terror. With the onset of a shadow war between two world superpowers, Lanny realizes that his mission is far from over. The Return of Lanny Budd is the final volume of Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning dramatization of twentieth-century world history. A thrilling mix of adventure, romance, and political intrigue, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
The Lanny Budd Novels Volume One book cover
#1-3

The Lanny Budd Novels Volume One

World's End, Between Two Worlds, and Dragon's Teeth

2016

Upton Sinclair’s Pulitzer Prize–winning series of historical novels brings the first half of the twentieth century dramatically to life. In World’s End, the gathering storm clouds of World War I burst over Europe, forcing Lanning “Lanny” Budd, the young son of an American arms dealer, to put the innocence of youth behind him; his language skills and talent for decoding messages are in high demand. At his father’s side, Lanny meets many important political and military figures, learns about the myriad causes of the conflict, and closely follows the war’s progress. When the bloody hostilities conclude, Lanny joins the Paris Peace Conference as the assistant to a geographer asked by President Woodrow Wilson to redraw the map of Europe. From the rise of Fascism in Europe to the stock market crash on Wall Street, Between Two Worlds captures the drama, intrigue, and excitement of the Roaring Twenties. At the start of his career as an international art dealer, Lanny travels to Italy and witnesses the brutal charisma of Benito Mussolini. Meanwhile, in Germany, the failed Beer Hall Putsch led by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party strikes an ominous note, foreshadowing the devastation to come. After two star-crossed love affairs, Lanny marries a wealthy heiress and chooses the United States with its booming economy as their home. But neither he nor those he loves can predict the financial disaster that will bring a decade of prosperity to an abrupt close. Winner of the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Dragon’s Teeth brilliantly captures the nightmarish march toward the Second World War. In Germany to visit relatives, Lanny encounters a disturbing atmosphere of hatred and jingoism stoked by the Nazi Party and meets the group’s fanatical leader, Adolf Hitler. But Lanny’s gravest fear is the threat to his Jewish friends and family—a threat that impels him to risk his wealth, his future, and even his life in a courageous attempt to rescue his loved ones from a terrible fate. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair’s vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Author

Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Author · 47 books

Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr. was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). To gather information for the novel, Sinclair spent seven weeks undercover working in the meat packing plants of Chicago. These direct experiences exposed the horrific conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. The Jungle has remained continuously in print since its initial publication. In 1919, he published The Brass Check, a muckraking exposé of American journalism that publicized the issue of yellow journalism and the limitations of the “free press” in the United States. Four years after the initial publication of The Brass Check, the first code of ethics for journalists was created. Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence." In 1943, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Sinclair also ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Socialist, and was the Democratic Party nominee for Governor of California in 1934, though his highly progressive campaign was defeated.

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The Lanny Budd Novels