Chateaubriand originally intended for the work to be published at least fifty years after his death, but his financial troubles forced him, in his words, "to mortgage [his] tomb". There have been a number of English translations. British author Anthony Kline published a complete translation in 2005 that is freely available for non-commercial use. An abridged translation by Robert Baldick was first published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961, and later, in paperback, by Penguin books in 1972. A New York Review of Books edition translated by Alex Andriesse was published in 2018, covering the years 1768-1800 (first 12 of 42 books).