What was the title of C.S. Lewis’s first published book, an allegory released in 1933?

The Pilgrim’s Regress was C.S. Lewis’s first published book, released in 1933.

Its full title is The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason and Romanticism. The work follows a character named John on a journey, using allegorical figures and places to represent intellectual, moral, and spiritual ideas.

Lewis wrote the book after returning to Christian belief, and its structure deliberately recalls John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. However, Lewis’s allegory reflects modern debates about philosophy, ideology, desire, and religion rather than simply retelling Bunyan.

The book was not Lewis’s first major literary work in every sense: he had already written poetry and scholarly material, and he later became much better known for Narnia. Its 1933 publication nevertheless makes it the first book he published under the name C.S. Lewis.