Harper Lee's novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was published in 1960.
The book was released in the United States on July 11, 1960, by J. B. Lippincott & Co. It is narrated by Scout Finch, who looks back on her childhood in the fictional Alabama town of Maycomb. Through Scout's family and neighbors, the novel explores racism, injustice, class, childhood, and moral courage.
Lee based parts of the story on observations from her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, including events that occurred there in 1936, when she was ten years old. The novel became an immediate success and was widely adopted in American schools. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.
Readers sometimes confuse the publication date with the period in which the story takes place. The novel was published in 1960, but its main events are set during the 1930s. The title refers to the idea that harming an innocent person is morally wrong, symbolized by the harmless mockingbird.