''Seven Days in May'' is an American political thriller novel by

Fletcher Knebel Fletcher Knebel (October 1, 1911 – February 26, 1993) was an American author of several popular works of political fiction. Knebel was born in Dayton, Ohio, but relocated a number of times during his youth. He graduated from high school in Y ...

and

Charles W. Bailey II Charles Waldo Bailey II (April 28, 1929January 3, 2012) was an American journalist, newspaper editor and novelist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of John Washburn Bailey and Catherine (née Smith), he graduated from Harvard University in ...

, first published in hardcover by

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

in 1962. The plot concerns an attempted military coup in the United States.

Reception

The book was a great success, and was number one on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller list for the weeks of November 18, 1962,

The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 1962 This is a list of adult fiction books that topped ''The New York Times'' Fiction Best Seller list in 1962. Four books topped the list that year, the longest on top being ''Ship of Fools'' by Katherine Anne Porter, which spent exactly half the yea ...

December 2–9, 1962, and March 3, 1963 The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 1963 (the weeks of December 16 to February 24 were not listed due to the

1962–63 New York City newspaper strike Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita ...

). It was made into a successful American movie, also named ''

Seven Days in May ''Seven Days in May'' is a 1964 American political thriller film about a military-political cabal's planned takeover of the United States government in reaction to the president's negotiation of a disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. The f ...

'', in 1964, as well as into a Soviet three-episode miniseries, named "The conspiracy", in 1971 and four-episode miniseries, named ', in 1983.

Awards

The novel was nominated for the 1989

Prometheus Hall of Fame Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...

References

1962 American novels American novels adapted into films American political novels American thriller novels Fiction set in 1974 Harper & Row books Novels about coups d'état Political thriller novels {{1960s-thriller-novel-stub

Reception

Awards

See also

References