Order of Book Series
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Leslie Thomas Books in Order

Leslie Thomas has written 38 books, published between 1966 and 2011. The first book is The Virgin Soldiers (1966) and the newest is My World of Islands (2011). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
38
Published
1966–2011
Pages on record
9,926 in 32 of 38 books
Reading time
165–248 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 9,926 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 32 of 38 titles with a page count on record.

See all 38 books in order Printable Leslie Thomas checklist
Photo of Leslie Thomas, author

The Virgin Soldiers (1966) opens Leslie Thomas's catalogue and is the comic novel Thomas is best known for. Thomas (1931-2014) was a Welsh author, appointed OBE, with 38 catalogued books running to My World of Islands (2011). Two series are catalogued: Virgin Soldiers, continued in Onward Virgin Soldiers (1972), and Dangerous Davies. Military life, the British Army, the Second World War, islands and travel writing fill out the list, alongside Orange Wednesday (1967), Come To The War (1971) and Arthur McCann And All His Women (1974).

How many Leslie Thomas books are there?

Leslie Thomas has 38 books, released between 1966 and 2011. They include 2 series and 31 titles listed outside any series.

Leslie Thomas Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 38 Leslie Thomas 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.

  1. Cover of The Virgin Soldiers by Leslie Thomas, book 1 of the Virgin Soldiers series (1966)
  2. Cover of Come To The War by Leslie Thomas (1971)
  3. Cover of Onward Virgin Soldiers by Leslie Thomas, book 2 of the Virgin Soldiers series (1972)
  4. Cover of His Lordship by Leslie Thomas (1972)
  5. Cover of Midnight Clear by Leslie Thomas (1978)
  6. Cover of Ormerod's Landing by Leslie Thomas (1979)
  7. Cover of That Old Gang of Mine by Leslie Thomas (1980)
  8. Cover of The Magic Army by Leslie Thomas (1982)
  9. Cover of A World of Islands by Leslie Thomas (1983)
  10. Cover of In My Wildest Dreams by Leslie Thomas (1986)
  11. Cover of Dangerous In Love by Leslie Thomas, book 2 of the Dangerous Davies series (1987)
  12. Cover of Orders for New York by Leslie Thomas (1989)
  13. Cover of The Loves And Journeys Of Revolving Jones by Leslie Thomas (1992)
  14. Cover of ArrivalsDepartures by Leslie Thomas (1993)
  15. Cover of Running Away by Leslie Thomas (1994)
  16. Cover of Kensington Heights by Leslie Thomas (1996)
  17. Cover of Dangerous Davies und das einsame Herz by Leslie Thomas, book 4 of the Dangerous Davies series (1998)
  18. Cover of Other Times by Leslie Thomas (1999)
  19. Cover of Almost Heaven by Leslie Thomas (2010)
  1. 1
    The Virgin SoldiersVirgin Soldiers #11966 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1966400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Orange Wednesday1967 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1967256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    This Time Next Week1967 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1967208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Some Lovely Islands1968 · 216 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1968216
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Love Beach1970 · 272 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1970272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Come To The War1971 · confirmed 2/4
    1971–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Onward Virgin SoldiersVirgin Soldiers #21972 · 400 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    His Lordship1972 · 239 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972239
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Man With The Power1974 · 252 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974252
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Arthur McCann And All His Women1974 · 267 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974267
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Tropic Of Ruislip1974 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Dangerous Davies, the Last DetectiveDangerous Davies #11976 · confirmed 2/4
    1976–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Bare Nell1977 · 329 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1977329
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Midnight Clear1978 · 27 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197827
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Ormerod's Landing1979 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    That Old Gang of Mine1980 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1980224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Hidden Places Of Britain1981 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Magic Army1982 · 482 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982482
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    A World of Islands1983 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1983208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Dearest and the Best1984 · 421 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984421
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    In My Wildest Dreams1986 · 381 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1986381
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Dangerous In LoveDangerous Davies #21987 · 259 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1987259
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Adventures Of Goodnight And Loving1987 · 509 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1987509
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Orders for New York1989 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1989352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Loves And Journeys Of Revolving Jones1992 · 438 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1992438
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Dangerous By MoonlightDangerous Davies #31993 · 344 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993344
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    ArrivalsDepartures1993 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Running Away1994 · 437 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1994437
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Kensington Heights1996 · 385 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996385
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Chloe's Song1997 · confirmed 2/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  31. 31
    Dangerous Davies und das einsame HerzDangerous Davies #41998 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  32. 32
    Other Times1999 · 497 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999497
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  33. 33
    Waiting for the Day2003 · confirmed 2/4
    2003–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  34. 34
    Dover Beach2005 · confirmed 2/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  35. 35
    Soldiers and Lovers2007 · confirmed 2/4
    2007–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  36. 36
    Stand Up Virgin SoldiersVirgin Soldiers #32010 · 251 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2010251
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  37. 37
    Almost Heaven2010 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2010240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  38. 38
    My World of Islands2011 · 224 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2011224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Leslie Thomas series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

Leslie Thomas 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.

Virgin Soldiers in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Virgin Soldiers
  2. 2. Onward Virgin Soldiers
  3. 3. Stand Up Virgin Soldiers

Standalone books

31 books

31 Leslie Thomas titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Leslie Thomas books in order?

You only need to read Leslie Thomas 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 Leslie Thomas

Start with Dangerous Davies, the Last Detective (1976), the first Dangerous Davies book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Virgin Soldiers (1966).

What is the newest Leslie Thomas book?

My World of Islands (2011) is the newest Leslie Thomas book released so far.

Is there a new Leslie Thomas book coming?

No next Leslie Thomas book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Leslie Thomas at a glance

Died
Leslie Thomas died in 2014, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Leslie Thomas on record dates from 2011.
Release pace
Leslie Thomas books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
9,926 pages across the 32 of 38 books with a recorded length, a median of 270 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Leslie Thomas books, 11 of 38, were published in the 1970s.

What the Leslie Thomas books are about

30 of the 38 Leslie Thomas books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: fiction in english is tagged on 7 of 30. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.