Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the first book in the Harry Potter series.
The novel was published in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury on 26 June 1997. It introduces Harry Potter, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the central conflict involving Lord Voldemort. The book begins with Harry living unhappily with the Dursley family before learning that he is a wizard.
The title differs between editions. In the United States, Scholastic published the same first novel in 1998 as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The change was made because the publisher believed “sorcerer” would be more immediately understandable to American readers.
That regional title difference sometimes causes people to treat the books as separate stories. They are the same first installment, with wording changes in some passages. The original British title remains Philosopher’s Stone.