John Marsden Reading Order
8 series · 140 books · Born 1946-11-17
John Marsden is a British historian specializing in early medieval Scotland and Northumbria, with a prolific career spanning from 1987 to the present. He has authored approximately 140 works across multiple series, establishing himself as a leading scholar of early British history. His research and writing make him an essential resource for readers interested in the formative centuries of northern Britain, distinct from the similarly-named Australian novelist known for young adult fiction.
From Reason to Revolution Series
Ongoing96 books (2017–2024)
Start with Far Distant Ships: The Blockade of Brest, 1793-1815(By: Quintin Barry), the first of 96 books in the From Reason to Revolution series.
Start this series with Far Distant Ships: The Blockade of Brest, 1793-1815(By: Quintin Barry)
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Far Distant Ships: The Blockade of Brest, 1793-1815(By: Quintin Barry) |
| 2 |  Glories to Useless Heroism(By: William Raffle) |
| 3 |  On Gladsmuir Shall the Battle Be!(By: Arran Johnston) |
| 4 |  Recollections from the Ranks(By: Darrin Boland) |
| 5 |  Reminiscences 1808-1815 Under Wellington(By: William Hay,Andrew Bamford) |
| 6 |  The Autobiography or Narrative of a Soldier(By: William Brown) |
| 7 |  The French Army of the Orient 1798-1801(By: Yves Martin) |
| 8 | "Men who are Determined to be Free": The American Assault on Stony Point, 15 July 1779(By: David C. Bonk) |
| 9 |  A Light Infantryman with Wellington: The Letters of Captain George Ulrich Barlow 52nd and 69th Foot 1808-15(By: Gareth Glover) |
| 10 |  By Fire and Bayonet: Grey's West Indies Campaign of 1794(By: Steve Brown) |
| 11 |  For Orange and the States Part I(By: Marc Geerdink-Schaftenaar) |
| 12 |  Murat's Army: The Army of the Kingdom of Naples 1806-1815(By: Digby Smith) |
| 13 |  Narrative of the Eventful Life of Thomas Jackson(By: Thomas Jackson) |
| 14 |  Next to Wellington: General Sir George Murray(By: John Harding-Edgar) |
| 15 |  Olmutz to Torgau: Horace St Paul and the Campaigns of the Austrian Army in the Seven Years War 1758-60(By: Neil Cogswell) |
| 16 |  The Secret Expedition: The Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland 1799(By: Geert van Uythoven) |
| 17 |  The Veteran or 40 Years' Service in the British Army(By: John Harley) |
| 18 |  We are Accustomed to Do Our Duty: German Auxiliaries with the British Army 1793-95(By: Paul Demet) |
| 19 |  With the Guards in Flanders: The Diary of Captain Roger Morris, 1793-1795(By: Peter Harrington,Roger Morris) |
| 20 | A Redcoat in America: The Diaries of Lieutenant William Bamford, 1757-1765 and 1776(By: John B. Hattendorf) |
| 21 |  All at Sea: Naval Support for the British Army During the American Revolutionary War(By: John Dillon) |
| 22 |  Command and Leadership 1721-1815(By: Andrew Bamford) |
| 23 |  Fluxes, Fevers and Fighting Men: War and Disease in Ancien Regime Europe 1648-1789(By: Padraig Lenihan) |
| 24 |  For Orange and the States: The Army of the Dutch Republic, 1713-1772: Part II: Cavalry and Special Troops(By: Marc Geerdink-Schaftenaar) |
| 25 |  Glory Is Fleeting: New Scholarship on the Napoleonic Wars(By: Andrew Bamford) |
| 26 |  King George’s Hangman: Henry Hawley and the Battle of Falkirk, 1746(By: Jonathan Oates) |
| 27 |  Northern Tars in Southern Waters: The Russian Fleet in the Mediterranean, 1806-1810(By: Darrin Boland) |
| 28 |  Quebec Under Siege: French Eye-Witness Accounts from the Campaign of 1759(By: Charles A Mayhood) |
| 29 |  Royal Navy Officers of the Seven Years War: A Biographical Dictionary of Commissioned Officers 1748-1763(By: Cy Harrison) |
| 30 |  So Bloody a Day: The 16th Light Dragoons in the Waterloo Campaign(By: David Blackmore) |
| 31 |  Swiss Regiments in the Service of France 1798-1815(By: Stephen Ede-Borrett) |
| 32 |  The Key to Lisbon: The Third French Invasion of Portugal, 1810-11(By: Kenton White) |
| 33 |  They Were Good Soldiers: African–Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783(By: John Rees) |
| 34 |  Waterloo - After the Glory: Hospital Sketches and Reports on the Wounded after the Battle(By: Gareth Glover) |
| 35 |  Zweybrücken in Command: The Reichsarmee in the Campaign of 1758(By: Neil Cogswell) |
| 36 |  Fashioning Regulation, Regulating Fashion: The Uniforms and Dress of the British Army 1800-1815: Volume II(By: Ben Townsend) |
| 37 |  From Across the Sea: North Americans in Nelson’s Navy(By: John A Rodgaard) |
| 38 |  Guerra Fantastica: The Portuguese Army in the Seven Years War(By: António Barrento) |
| 39 |  Life in the Red Coat: The British Soldier 1721-1815(By: Andrew Bamford) |
| 40 |  Rebellious Scots to Crush: The Military Response to the Jacobite ‘45(By: Andrew Bamford) |
| 41 |  Revenge in the Name of Honour: The Royal Navy’s Quest for Vengeance in the Single Ship Actions of the War of 1812(By: Nicholas James Kaizer) |
| 42 |  The Danish Army of the Napoleonic Wars 1801-1815. Organisation, Uniforms & Equipment: Volume 1 - High Command, Line and Light Infantry(By: David A. Wilson) |
| 43 | They Fought with Extraordinary Bravery: The III GermanArmy Corps in the Southern Netherlands, 1814(By: Geert van Uythoven) |
| 44 |  Wellington at Bay: The Battle of Villamuriel, 25 October 1812(By: Garry David Wills) |
| 45 |  Wellington’s Favourite Engineer: John Fox Burgoyne: Operations, Engineering, and the Making of a Field Marshal(By: Mark S. Thompson) |
| 46 |  At the Point of the Bayonet The Peninsular War Battles of Arroyomolinos and Almaraz 1811-1812(By: Robert Griffith) |
| 47 |  Austrian Cavalry of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792-1815(By: Bruno Mugnai) |
| 48 |  Bullocks, Grain, and Good Madeira: The Maratha and Jat Campaigns, 1803-1806 and the Emergence of an Indian Arm(By: Joshua Provan) |
| 49 |  Crisis at the Chesapeake: The Royal Navy and the Struggle for America 1775-1783(By: Quintin Barry) |
| 50 |  For God and King: A History of the Damas Legion : A Case Study of the Military Emigration during the French Revolution(By: Alistair Nichols) |
| 51 |  French Light Infantry 1784-1815: From the Chasseurs of Louis XVI to Napoleon’s Grande Armée(By: Terry Crowdy) |
| 52 |  Hastenbeck 1757: The French Army and the Opening Campaign of the Seven Years War(By: Olivier Lapray) |
| 53 |  Like a Brazen Wall: The Battle of Minden, 1759, and its Place in the Seven Years War(By: Ewan Carmichael) |
| 54 |  Napoleon’s Stolen Army: How the Royal Navy Rescued a Spanish Army in the Baltic |
| 55 |  Rebellion, Invasion and Occupation: The British Army in Ireland, 1793-1815(By: Wayne Stack) |
| 56 |  Riflemen: The History of the 5th Battalion, 60th(By: Robert Griffith) |
| 57 |  Scharnhorst: The Formative Years, 1755-1801(By: Charles Edward White) |
| 58 |  Sir James McGrigor: The Adventurous Life of Wellington's Chief Medical Officer(By: Tom Scotland) |
| 59 |  The Sea Is My Element: The Eventful Life of Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, 1766-1838(By: Paul Martinovich) |
| 60 |  The Sieges of the '45: Siege Warfare during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745-1746(By: Jonathan Oates) |
| 61 | The Sword and the Spirit: Proceedings of the first ‘War & Peace in the Age of Napoleon’(By: Zack White) |
| 62 |  Their Infantry and Guns Will Astonish You: The Army of Hindustan and European Mercenaries in Maratha service 1780-1803(By: Andy Copestake) |
| 63 |  These Distinguished Corps: British Grenadier and Light Infantry Battalions in the American Revolution(By: Don N. Hagist) |
| 64 |  Wellington and the Lines of Torres Vedras: The Defence of Portugal during the Peninsular War, 1807-1814(By: Mark S. Thompson) |
| 65 |  1805 – Tsar Alexander\'s First War with Napoleon: The Russian Official History(By: Peter G. A. Phillips) |
| 66 |  A Very Fine Regiment: The 47th Foot during the American War of Independence, 1773-1783(By: Paula Knight) |
| 67 |  All the Seas of the World(By: Albert C.E. Parker) |
| 68 |  Armies and Enemies of Napoleon, 1789-1815: Proceedings of the 2021 Helion and Company ’From Reason to Revolution’ Conference(By: Robert Griffith) |
| 69 |  From Ushant to Gibraltar: The Channel Fleet 1778-1783(By: Quintin Barry) |
| 70 |  Ladies, Wives and Women: British Army Wives in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815(By: David Clammer) |
| 71 |  Lobositz to Leuthen: Horace St Paul and the Campaigns of the Austrian Army in the Seven Years War 1756-57(By: Neil Cogswell) |
| 72 |  More Furies Than Men(By: Pierre-Louis Coudray) |
| 73 |  Napoleonic French Military Uniforms 1798-1814(By: Guy Dempsey) |
| 74 |  No Want of Courage: The British Army in Flanders, 1793-1795(By: R.N.W. Thomas) |
| 75 |  The Army of the Kingdom of Italy, 1805-1814(By: Stephen Ede-Borrett) |
| 76 |  The Battle of Rossbach 1757: New Perspectives on the Battle and Campaign(By: Alexander Querengasser) |
| 77 |  The Changing Face of Old Regime Warfare: Essays in Honour of Christopher Duffy(By: Alexander S Burns) |
| 78 |  The Ottoman Army of the Napoleonic Wars, 1784-1815(By: Bruno Mugnai) |
| 79 |  The Soldiers are Dressed in Red: The Quiberon Expedition of 1795 and the Counter-Revolution in Brittany(By: Alistair Nichols) |
| 80 |  Wellington's Other Army(By: Sérgio Veludo Coelho) |
| 81 |  1806-1807 - Tsar Alexander's Second War with Napoleon: The Russian Official History(By: Peter G.A. Philips) |
| 82 |  A Fine Corps and will Serve Faithfully: The Swiss Regiment de Roll in the British Army 1794-1816(By: Alistair Nichols) |
| 83 |  An Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution, 1775-1783(By: David C. Bonk) |
| 84 |  Anson: Naval Commander and Statesman(By: Anthony Bruce) |
| 85 |  Confronting Napoleon: Levin von Bennigsen’s Memoir of the Campaign in Poland, 1806-1807: Volume II(By: Paul Strietelmeier) |
| 86 |  Fit to Command(By: Steve Brown) |
| 87 |  Kesselsdorf 1745: Decision in the Fight for Silesia(By: Alexander Querengasser) |
| 88 |  Maurice de Saxe and the Conquest of the Austrian Netherlands 1744-1748: Volume 1 - The Ghosts of Dettingen(By: Michael McNally) |
| 89 | New Perspectives on the Jacobite ’45(By: Arran Johnston) |
| 90 |  The Bavarian War of Succession, 1778-79(By: Alexander Querengasser) |
| 91 |  The Pattern: The 33rd Regiment in the American Revolution, 1770-1783(By: Robbie MacNiven) |
| 92 |  The Tagus Campaign of 1809 |
| 93 |  To Conquer and to Keep: Suchet and the War for Eastern Spain, 1809-1814(By: Yuhan Kim) |
| 94 | Wellington's Unsung Heroes: The Fifth Division in the Peninsular War, 1810-1814(By: Carole Divall) |
| 95 | You Have to Die in Piedmont!: The Battle of Assietta, 19 July 1747. The War of the Austrian Succession in the Alps(By: Giovanni Cerino Badone) |
| 96 |  Frontier Soldiers of New France: Volume 1 - Regulation Clothing, Armament, and Equipment of the Colonial Troops in New France(By: René Chartrand,Kevin Gélinas,Michal Pétard) |
Non-Fiction Series
Complete5 books (1989–2019)
Start with The Illustrated Bede, the first of 5 books in the Non-Fiction series.
Start this series with The Illustrated Bede
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Illustrated Bede |
| 2 | Everything I Know About Writing |
| 3 | Marsden on Marsden |
| 4 | Somerled: And the Emergence of Gaelic Scotland |
| 5 | The Art of Growing Up |
Picture Series
Complete3 books (1998–2008)
Start with Norton's Hut and read in order.
Start this series with Norton's Hut
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Norton's Hut |
| 2 |  The Rabbits(With: Shaun Tan) |
| 3 |  Home and Away |
Shaun Tan Picture Series
Complete6 books (1998–2020)
Start with The Rabbits, the first of 6 books in the Shaun Tan Picture series.
Start this series with The Rabbits
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Rabbits |
| 2 |  The Lost Thing(By: Shaun Tan) |
| 3 |  The Red Tree(By: Shaun Tan) |
| 4 |  Rules of Summer(By: Shaun Tan) |
| 5 | Cicada(By: Shaun Tan) |
| 6 |  Dog(By: Shaun Tan) |
So Much to Tell You Series
Complete2 books (1987–1992)
Start with So Much to Tell You and read in order.
Start this series with So Much to Tell You
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | So Much to Tell You |
| 2 |  Take My Word For It |
Standalone Novels Series
Complete18 books (1989–2020)
Start with The Great Gatenby, the first of 18 books in the Standalone Novels series.
Start this series with The Great Gatenby
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  The Great Gatenby |
| 2 |  Letters from the Inside |
| 3 |  Cool School |
| 4 |  Checkers |
| 5 |  Looking For Trouble |
| 6 |  Staying Alive in Year Five |
| 7 |  Dear Miffy |
| 8 |  Prayer for the Twenty-First Century |
| 9 |  Secret Men's Business |
| 10 |  Winter |
| 11 |  The Head Book |
| 12 |  A Day in the Life of Me |
| 13 | Hamlet |
| 14 |  Hamlet & Ophelia |
| 15 | The Year My Life Broke |
| 16 | South of Darkness |
| 17 |  A Roomful of Magic |
| 18 | Millie |
The Ellie Chronicles Series
Complete3 books (2003–2006)
Start with While I Live and read in order.
Start this series with While I Live
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  While I Live |
| 2 |  Incurable |
| 3 |  Circle Of Flight |
Tomorrow Series
Complete7 books (1993–1999)
Start with Tomorrow, When the War Began, the first of 7 books in the Tomorrow series.
Start this series with Tomorrow, When the War Began
Buy Book 1 🇺🇸🎧 Listen free on Audible| # | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Tomorrow, When the War Began |
| 2 |  The Dead of Night |
| 3 |  A Killing Frost / The Third Day, the Frost |
| 4 | Darkness, Be My Friend |
| 5 |  Burning For Revenge |
| 6 |  The Night is for Hunting |
| 7 |  The Other Side of Dawn |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many books has John Marsden written?
- John Marsden has written 140 books across 8 series. Their published works span from 1987 to 2024.
- What is the first book in each John Marsden series?
- Here are the first books in John Marsden's series: From Reason to Revolution: Far Distant Ships: The Blockade of Brest, 1793-1815(By: Quintin Barry); Non-Fiction: The Illustrated Bede; Picture: Norton's Hut; Shaun Tan Picture: The Rabbits; So Much to Tell You: So Much to Tell You.
- What order should I read John Marsden's books?
- We recommend reading John Marsden's series in publication order. Each series can be read independently.
- Is John Marsden still writing new books?
- Yes, John Marsden has 1 ongoing series: From Reason to Revolution.