Which C.S. Lewis novel, published in 1950, begins The Chronicles of Narnia?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe begins The Chronicles of Narnia and was published in 1950.

The novel introduces the world of Narnia through four children—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—who enter it through a wardrobe. Lucy’s discovery leads to a conflict involving Aslan, the White Witch, and a winter that has lasted for a century. The book became Lewis’s best-known children’s novel.

Publication order and internal chronological order are sometimes confused. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first Narnia book published, while The Magician’s Nephew is set earlier in Narnian history. Many editions number the books differently because they use either publication order or a chronological reading order.

The title’s lion is Aslan, while the witch is Jadis, the White Witch. Lewis drew on Christian imagery, classical mythology, fairy tales, and northern European legend when creating the series.