Which C.S. Lewis novel first introduced the land of Narnia?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first introduced readers to the land of Narnia.

Published in 1950, the novel follows Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie after Lucy discovers a passage into another world through a wardrobe. Narnia is ruled by the White Witch when the children arrive, and its return to spring forms the story’s central conflict.

Although The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first Narnia book published, The Magician’s Nephew is set earlier in the fictional chronology. That difference explains why readers sometimes debate which book should be read first. Publication order begins with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The book launched a seven-volume series. Pauline Baynes illustrated the original editions, and Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy became the best-known human children in Lewis’s fantasy world.