Dudley Pope Books in Order
Dudley Pope has written 37 books, published between 1954 and 1989. The first book is Flag 4 (1954) and the newest is Ramage & the Dido (1989). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 37
- Published
- 1954–1989
- Pages on record
- 10,630 in 33 of 37 books
- Reading time
- 177–266 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 10,630 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 33 of 37 titles with a page count on record.
Dudley Pope wrote nautical fiction and naval history. Pope lived from 1925 to 1997 and published 37 catalogued books between Flag 4 (1954) and Ramage & the Dido (1989). The Nicholas Ramage novels are the best known work, set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and Ramage (1964) and Ramage and the Drum Beat (1968) sit early in that sequence. Buccaneer Ned Yorke is the second series. Histories of naval actions stand beside the novels, among them The Battle of the River Plate (1956) and 73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea 1942 (1958). C.S. Forester was the acknowledged influence, and Pope's work is often set beside Patrick O'Brian's.
How many Dudley Pope books are there?
Dudley Pope has 37 books, released between 1954 and 1989. They include 2 series and 14 titles listed outside any series.
Dudley Pope Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 37 Dudley Pope books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1Flag 41954 · 300 pages · confirmed 2/419543002/4
- 2The Battle of the River Plate1956 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/419562562/4
- 3Graf Spee1957 · confirmed 2/41957–2/4
- 473 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea 19421958 · 317 pages · confirmed 2/419583172/4
- 5Decision at Trafalgar / England Expects1960 · 358 pages · confirmed 2/419603582/4
- 6At 12 Mr. Byng was Shot1962 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/419623522/4
- 7The Black Ship1963 · 367 pages · confirmed 2/419633672/4
- 819643192/4
- 9Guns1965 · 254 pages · confirmed 2/419652542/4
- 101968–2/4
- 1119693822/4
- 1219733682/4
- 1319743502/4
- 1419752552/4
- 1519763322/4
- 1619772862/4
- 17Harry Morgan's Way1977 · 448 pages · confirmed 2/419774482/4
- 1819783182/4
- 19The Great Gamble1978 · 579 pages · confirmed 2/419785792/4
- 20The Buccaneer King1978 · 379 pages · confirmed 2/419783792/4
- 2119793972/4
- 221979–2/4
- 2319803142/4
- 2419812772/4
- 25Life in Nelson's Navy1981 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/419812882/4
- 2619813182/4
- 2719823092/4
- 2819823402/4
- 29Decoy1983 · 308 pages · confirmed 2/419833082/4
- 301984–2/4
- 3119853022/4
- 3219862582/4
- 3319872722/4
- 3419872562/4
- 35The Devil Himself1987 · 204 pages · confirmed 2/419872042/4
- 3619882802/4
- 3719892872/4
Dudley Pope books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Nicholas Ramage in order
18 books- 1. Ramage
- 2. Ramage and the Drum Beat
- 3. Ramage and the Freebooters / Triton Brig
- 4. Governor Ramage R. N.
- 5. Ramage's Prize
- 6. Ramage and the Guillotine
- 7. Ramage's Diamond
- 8. Ramage's Mutiny
- 9. Ramage & the Rebels
- 10. The Ramage Touch
- 11. Ramage's Signal
- 12. Ramage & the Renegades
- and 6 more in the table above
Buccaneer Ned Yorke in order
5 booksStandalone books
14 books14 Dudley Pope titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Dudley Pope books in order?
You only need to read Dudley Pope books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Dudley Pope
Start with Flag 4 (1954), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Dudley Pope book?
Ramage & the Dido (1989) is the newest Dudley Pope book released so far.
Is there a new Dudley Pope book coming?
No next Dudley Pope book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Dudley Pope at a glance
- Died
- Dudley Pope died in 1997, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Dudley Pope on record dates from 1989.
- Release pace
- Dudley Pope books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 10,630 pages across the 33 of 37 books with a recorded length, a median of 314 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Dudley Pope books, 15 of 37, were published in the 1980s.
What the Dudley Pope books are about
36 of the 37 Dudley Pope books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: great britain is tagged on 25 of 36. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Great Britain 25 of 36 books
- Naval history 19 of 36 books
- Great Britain. Royal Navy 16 of 36 books
- Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 14 of 36 books
- Nicholas Ramage (Fictitious character) 12 of 36 books
- Officers 12 of 36 books
- Ship captains 12 of 36 books
- Historical fiction 8 of 36 books
- History 6 of 36 books
- Action & adventure 5 of 36 books
- War & military 5 of 36 books
- Buccaneers 4 of 36 books