🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Kai Bird
He finished high school in the year 1969 at Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu, South India. He got his MS in journalism from Northwestern University in 1975 and his BA from Carleton College in 1973. After graduating from Carleton, he got a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, and used it to do a photojournalism project in Yemen. Two years later, his wife also got a Watson Fellowship, and the two spent fifteen months as freelance journalists traveling through Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. They filed weekly stories with papers like Hong Kong’s Far Eastern Economic Review and the Christian Science Monitor. Kai says they hardly made any money during this time, but they enjoyed the work that they were doing.
All Book Series by Kai Bird
The Chairman: John J. McCloy and the Making of the American Establishment
Series opener · book 1 of 9 · published 1992
Hiroshima's Shadow: Writings on the Denial of History & the Smithsonian Controversy
Book 2 of 9 · published 1996 Co-authored · Lawrence Lifschultz
The Color of Truth: McGeorge Bundy and William Bundy:Brothers in Arms
Book 3 of 9 · published 1998
American Prometheus
Book 4 of 9 · published 2005 Co-authored · Martin J. Sherwin
Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs & Israelis 1956-78
Book 5 of 9 · published 2010
The Outlier: The Life and Presidency of Jimmy Carter
Book 7 of 9 · published 2021
Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb
Book 8 of 9 · published 2025 Co-authored · Martin J. Sherwin
American Scoundrel
Latest in the series · book 9 of 9 · published 2026 Co-authored · Susan Goldmark
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Kai Bird?
He finished high school in the year 1969 at Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu, South India. He got his MS in journalism from Northwestern University in 1975 and his BA from Carleton College in 1973. After graduating from Carleton, he got a Thomas J.
Which Kai Bird series should I start with?
Kai Bird's books stand alone rather than forming a numbered series, so there is no reading order to follow. The natural first pick is The Chairman: John J. McCloy and the Making of the American Establishment (1992).
How many books has Kai Bird written?
Kai Bird has 9 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1992 and 2026. They all sit in a single category — Non-Fiction — rather than in numbered series.
In what order should Kai Bird's series be read?
No reading order is needed: none of the 9 books catalogued here do not form a numbered series, so any title can be picked up first. Within each category they are listed by publication year.
How are Kai Bird's books organised into series?
This guide splits Kai Bird's 9 books into categories rather than numbered series: Non-Fiction (9 books).