Alfred Russel Wallace books in order
British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist
- Lived
- 1823–1913
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Books
- 20
Alfred Russel Wallace published 2 novels, 1 novella, 7 non-fiction books and 10 other books, beginning with A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro (1853). The best-known is The Malay Archipelago (1890).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Alfred Russel Wallace
Start here
The Malay Archipelago
Alfred Russel Wallace's most-read book.
Standalone novels in order
The Malay Archipelago: The Land of the Orang-utan, and the Bird of Paradise. a Narrative of Travel, with Sketches of Man and Nature (1869)
Darwinism (1889)
Novellas in order
Is Mars Habitable? (1907)
Non-fiction in order
The Malay Archipelago (1890)
The Wonderful Century (1898)
Studies Scientific & Social (1900)
My Life (1905)
The World of Life (1910)
Other books in order
Miracles and Modern Spiritualism (1875)
The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876)
The Geographical Distribution of Animals: With a Study of the Relations of Living and Extinct (1876)
Island Life (1880)
Land Nationalisation (1882)
Natural Selection and Tropical Nature (1891)
Man's Place in the Universe (1903)
The Revolt of Democracy (1913)
Free to read
All free classicsThe Malay Archipelago, Volume 1
The Malay Archipelago, Volume 2
Alfred Russel Wallace
The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 1
The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2
Travels on the Amazon
Palm trees of the Amazon and their uses
On the phenomena of variation and geographical distribution as illustrated by the Papilionidæ of the Malayan region
A defence of modern spiritualism
Vaccination a Delusion
Is Mars habitable? A critical examination of Professor Percival Lowell's book "Mars and its canals," with an alternative explanation
Catalogue of the dipterous insects collected at Singapore and Malacca
The Remedy for Unemployment
About Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the "big species book" he was drafting and to quickly write an abstract of it, which was published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Alfred Russel Wallace FAQ
- How many books has Alfred Russel Wallace written?
- Alfred Russel Wallace published 2 novels, 1 novella, 7 non-fiction books and 10 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Alfred Russel Wallace's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Malay Archipelago.
- What is Alfred Russel Wallace's last book?
- The World of Life (1910).
- What is Alfred Russel Wallace's most famous book?
- The Malay Archipelago (1890) is Alfred Russel Wallace's most widely read book.
- Can I read Alfred Russel Wallace's books for free?
- Yes. 20 books by Alfred Russel Wallace are in the public domain in the US and free to read online or download here.
Authors like Alfred Russel Wallace
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers, free texts from Project Gutenberg. Last updated September 2026.