The 41 Best Literary Adaptation Limited Series

Some arrived as Sunday-night events decades ago, others dropped all at once on a streamer. Each one had a whole book to live up to.

1. 1
   Pride and Prejudice (1995)

   The BBC's six-part Jane Austen adaptation starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Fosse/Verdon

   FX's 2019 biographical series based on Sam Wasson's book Fosse.
   862pts
3. 3
   The Haunting of Hill House

   Mike Flanagan's 2018 Netflix reimagining of Shirley Jackson's haunted-house novel.
   822pts
4. 4
   Band of Brothers

   HBO's 2001 World War II miniseries adapted from Stephen Ambrose's history of Easy Company.
   822pts
5. 5
   Mildred Pierce

   Todd Haynes's 2011 HBO adaptation of James M. Cain's Depression-era novel, with Kate Winslet.
   801pts
6. 6
   The Thorn Birds

   The 1983 ABC miniseries of Colleen McCullough's Australian family saga.
   705pts
7. 7
   Little Fires Everywhere

   Hulu's 2020 adaptation of Celeste Ng's novel, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington.
   705pts
8. 8
   The Plot Against America

   HBO's 2020 alternate-history drama from Philip Roth's novel.
   705pts
9. 9
   Normal People

   The 2020 adaptation of Sally Rooney's novel about two Irish teenagers drifting together and apart.
   705pts
10. 10
    Unbelievable

    Netflix's 2019 crime drama based on the reporting book A False Report.
    632pts
11. 11
    Roots

    The landmark 1977 ABC miniseries adapted from Alex Haley's family saga of slavery in America.
    632pts
12. 12
    Dopesick

    Hulu's 2021 opioid-crisis drama adapted from Beth Macy's nonfiction book.
    632pts
13. 13
    Bleak House (2005)

    The BBC's soap-paced 2005 Dickens adaptation starring Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock.
    632pts
14. 14
    Daisy Jones & the Six

    Prime Video's 2023 adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel about a 1970s rock band.
    548pts
15. 15
    Lessons in Chemistry

    Apple TV+'s 2023 adaptation of Bonnie Garmus's novel, starring Brie Larson.
    548pts
16. 16
    Olive Kitteridge

    HBO's 2014 adaptation of Elizabeth Strout's Pulitzer-winning linked stories, with Frances McDormand.
    548pts
17. 17
    Station Eleven

    HBO Max's 2021 adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel's post-pandemic novel.
    548pts
18. 18
    Ripley

    Netflix's black-and-white 2024 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley.
    548pts
19. 19
    Lonesome Dove

    The 1989 western miniseries based on Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer-winning cattle-drive novel.
    548pts
20. 20
    Catch-22

    Hulu's 2019 adaptation of Joseph Heller's satirical war novel.
    548pts
21. 21
    War & Peace (2016)

    The BBC's 2016 six-part Tolstoy epic starring Paul Dano and Lily James.
    548pts
22. 22
    Masters of the Air

    Apple TV+'s 2024 bomber-crew drama based on Donald L. Miller's history of the Eighth Air Force.
    548pts
23. 23
    Alias Grace

    The 2017 adaptation of Margaret Atwood's novel about a real 1843 Canadian murder case.
    548pts
24. 24
    North & South (2004)

    The BBC's 2004 adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's industrial-era romance with Richard Armitage.
    548pts
25. 25
    Shōgun (1980)

    The 1980 NBC miniseries of James Clavell's novel, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune.
    448pts
26. 26
    The Jewel in the Crown

    Granada's 1984 serial of Paul Scott's Raj Quartet about the end of British rule in India.
    448pts
27. 27
    Big Little Lies

    HBO's Emmy-winning 2017 adaptation of Liane Moriarty's novel about secrets in Monterey.
    448pts
28. 28
    Sharp Objects

    HBO's 2018 Southern Gothic thriller from Gillian Flynn's debut novel, starring Amy Adams.
    448pts
29. 29
    Brideshead Revisited

    Granada's lavish 1981 serial of Evelyn Waugh's novel, starring Jeremy Irons.
    448pts
30. 30
    11.22.63

    Hulu's 2016 adaptation of Stephen King's time-travel novel about stopping the JFK assassination.
    448pts
31. 31
    Wolf Hall

    The BBC's 2015 Tudor drama from Hilary Mantel's novels, with Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell.
    329pts
32. 32
    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

    The 1979 BBC adaptation of John le Carré's Cold War novel, with Alec Guinness as George Smiley.
    329pts
33. 33
    I, Claudius

    The 1976 BBC serial of Robert Graves's novels about scheming in imperial Rome.
    329pts
34. 34
    The Queen's Gambit

    Netflix's 2020 chess drama adapted from Walter Tevis's novel, starring Anya Taylor-Joy.
    329pts
35. 35
    Maid

    Netflix's 2021 series based on Stephanie Land's memoir of single motherhood and housecleaning.
    329pts
36. 36
    The Outsider

    HBO's 2020 adaptation of Stephen King's supernatural crime novel.
    0pts
37. 37
    Unorthodox

    Netflix's 2020 drama inspired by Deborah Feldman's memoir of leaving a Hasidic community.
    0pts
38. 38
    The Pacific

    HBO's 2010 companion to Band of Brothers, drawn from Marine memoirs of the Pacific War.
    0pts
39. 39
    The Good Lord Bird

    Showtime's 2020 adaptation of James McBride's novel, with Ethan Hawke as John Brown.
    0pts
40. 40
    The Underground Railroad

    Barry Jenkins's 2021 Amazon adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer-winning novel.
    0pts
41. 41
    Under the Banner of Heaven

    FX's 2022 crime drama adapted from Jon Krakauer's nonfiction book.
    0pts

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