Seven Days in May is an American political thriller novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II, first published in hardcover by Harper & Row in 1962.

[1] The plot concerns an attempted military coup in the United States.

The book was a great success and was number one on The New York Times bestseller list for the weeks of November 18, 1962;[2] December 2–9, 1962;[2] and March 3, 1963.

[3] (The weeks of December 16 to February 24 were not listed because of the 1962–63 New York City newspaper strike.)

[1] The book has twice been adapted for screen: This article about a thriller novel of the 1960s is a stub.