Series 3, Subseries 1, Books, 1945-1993, includes correspondence, lists, reviews, clippings, reference material and drafts for Ball's five published books and one unpublished work. His published works include Diplomacy for a Crowded World, Discipline of Power, Error and Betrayal in Lebanon, Passionate Attachment, and The Past Has Another Pattern, copies of which are located in Firestone Library. His unpublished work focused on the evolution of the Schuman Plan.

Series 3, Subseries 2, Articles and Miscellaneous Writings, 1933-1994, contains articles, readers' comments, book jacket blurbs, college and law school papers, essays, forewords, letters to the editor, a memorandum, and poems. An electronic index exists for this subseries. A prolific writer, Ball produced over 270 articles during his lifetime for a variety of domestic and foreign publications. During the early 1970s, Ball wrote a guest columnist series for Newsweek. These articles focused largely on foreign policy and tackled such issues as Biafra's loss of independence, the Nixon doctrine, the Middle East, and the realities of a settlement in Vietnam. Ball was not afraid to write on difficult subjects and received a large amount of mail from readers who disagreed with his stated positions. His articles criticizing Israeli policy drew the most fire from incensed readers, who often labeled him an anti- Semite.