🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Stephen L. Carter
He was raised within a family a family devoted to public service. His mom worked as an executive assistant for M. Carl Holman and Julian Bond of the National Urban Coalition. His dad, an attorney turned administrator, was Executive Director of the Washington Urban League, and later a vice president at Cornell University. Carter’s grandad was a successful dentist in Harlem, while his grandma, named Eunice Hunton Carter, was the very first black woman to be a district attorney in New York state. Stephen graduated from Ithaca High School in the year 1972, and “The Best Black”, his essay, is partially based on his experiences when he was there. While at Ithaca, he was the editor-in-chief of The Tattler, and he pushed hard for students to be represented on the local school board.
All Book Series by Stephen L. Carter
The Confirmation Mess: Cleaning Up The Federal Appointments Process
Series opener · book 1 of 9 · published 1981
Leadership and Succession in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China
Book 2 of 9 · published 1986 Co-authored · Martin McCauley
The Culture of Disbelief: How American Law and Politics Trivialize Religious Devotion
Book 4 of 9 · published 1993
God's Name In Vain: The Wrongs And Rights Of Relgion In Politics
Book 7 of 9 · published 2000
The Violence of Peace: America's Wars in the Age of Obama
Book 8 of 9 · published 2010
Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster
Latest in the series · book 9 of 9 · published 2017
The American Newness
Series opener · book 1 of 18 · published 1986 Anthology · Irving Howe
The Southern Tradition
Book 5 of 18 · published 1994 Anthology · Eugene D. Genovese
Achieving Our Country
Book 8 of 18 · published 1999 Anthology · Richard M. Rorty
The Real American Dream
Book 9 of 18 · published 1999 Anthology · Andrew Delbanco
Reporting The Universe
Book 11 of 18 · published 2003 Anthology · E.L. Doctorow
Architecture As Signs And Systems
Book 13 of 18 · published 2004 Anthology · Robert Venturi
Reshaping The Work-family Debate
Book 14 of 18 · published 2010 Anthology · Joan C. Williams
Three Songs, Three Singers, Three Nations
Book 17 of 18 · published 2015 Anthology · Greil Marcus
Just A Journalist
Latest in the series · book 18 of 18 · published 2017 Anthology · Linda Greenhouse
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Stephen L. Carter?
He was raised within a family a family devoted to public service. His mom worked as an executive assistant for M. Carl Holman and Julian Bond of the National Urban Coalition.
Which Stephen L. Carter series should I start with?
The best place to start is The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures series, the earliest of Stephen L. Carter's multi-book series: it opens with The American Newness (1986) and runs to 18 books across 1986–2017, ending with Just A Journalist (2017). Stephen L. Carter's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Stephen L. Carter written?
Stephen L. Carter has 155 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1981 and 2025. 142 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures series with 18 books — and 13 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Stephen L. Carter's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Stephen L. Carter's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures (1986–2017, 18 books) and Elm Harbor (2002–2008, 3 books).
How are Stephen L. Carter's books organised into series?
This guide splits Stephen L. Carter's 155 books into 3 named series and 13 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures (18 books, 1986–2017); Elm Harbor (3 books, 2002–2008); Akashic Noir (121 books, 2002–2025).