Author In memoriam

Colleen McCullough

Q: What should I read first by Colleen McCullough?

Start with the Masters of Rome series, since it is the first on file, then read it in publication order.

Colleen McCullough has 23 known credited books (23 published) across 2 series. Start with Masters of Rome.

Colleen McCullough (1937-2015) was an Australian author best known internationally for The Thorn Birds, a multigenerational family saga that became a publishing phenomenon and one of the best-selling novels of the twentieth century, later adapted into a hugely popular 1983 American television miniseries. Within historical fiction specifically, she is equally celebrated for the Masters of Rome series, seven meticulously researched novels tracing the fall of the Roman Republic from the rise of Gaius Marius through Julius Caesar's assassination and its aftermath.

Before her writing career, McCullough worked as a neuroscientist and researcher, including years at Yale University's medical school studying the electrical structure of the brain -- a scientific rigor she carried directly into the historical research underpinning Masters of Rome, which she wrote with source material and maps developed almost as if for a graduate thesis. She continued writing prolifically into her later years despite failing eyesight, working with assistants to keep producing new fiction.

A new reader interested in Roman history should start with The First Man in Rome, the opening volume of Masters of Rome; a reader wanting her best-known work should start with The Thorn Birds instead. Both remain in print internationally decades after their original publication.

Series: 2
Credited books: 23
Published: 23
Active: 1974–2013
Best known for: Masters of Rome

Key facts about Colleen McCullough

Our list holds 23 books by Colleen McCullough. 12 of them belong to a series, while 11 stand alone. Since all 23 are out now, every book here is ready to read. Their series sit on our historical fiction and crime shelves.

Colleen McCullough has 2 series on file. Masters of Rome has 7 books, while Carmine Delmonico has 5 books. In particular, Masters of Rome is the longest series on file. Masters of Rome starts with The First Man in Rome, while Carmine Delmonico starts with On, Off.

Since Masters of Rome is the first series on file, it is the place to start. Their first published book on file came out in 1974.

There are also 11 standalone books. You can read them in any order, since each one stands alone. The newest one that is out is Bittersweet, from 2013. The oldest on file is Tim, from 1974.