Order of Book Series
0

Richard Adams Books in Order

Richard Adams has written 22 books, published between 1972 and 2023. The first book is Watership Down (1972) and the newest is Watership Down: The Graphic Novel (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
22
Published
1972–2023
Pages on record
5,473 in 19 of 22 books
Reading time
91–137 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,473 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 19 of 22 titles with a page count on record.

See all 22 books in order Printable Richard Adams checklist
Photo of Richard Adams, author

Richard Adams (10 May 1920 to 24 December 2016) was an English novelist whose first novel, Watership Down (1972), won international acclaim. Maia, Shardik and The Plague Dogs are among the other works. Adams read Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford, served in the British Army in World War II, joined the British Civil Service, and turned to full-time writing in 1974. The catalogue lists titles such as Shardik (1974), The Plague Dogs (1977) and The Girl in a Swing (1980), with Watership Down and Beklan Empire as series. Rabbits, nature, adventure and fantasy appear in the subject records.

How many Richard Adams books are there?

Richard Adams has 22 books, released between 1972 and 2023. They include 2 series and 17 titles listed outside any series.

Richard Adams Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 22 Richard Adams 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 Shardik by Richard Adams, book 1 of the Beklan Empire series (1974)
  2. Cover of The Ship's Cat by Richard Adams (1977)
  3. Cover of The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (1977)
  4. Cover of The Iron Wolf and Other Stories by Richard Adams (1980)
  5. Cover of Voyage Through the Antarctic by Richard Adams (1982)
  6. Cover of The Legend of Te Tuna by Richard Adams (1982)
  7. Cover of Maia by Richard Adams, book 2 of the Beklan Empire series (1984)
  8. Cover of A Nature Diary by Richard Adams (1985)
  9. Cover of Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams, book 2 of the Watership Down series (1996)
  10. Cover of The Outlandish Knight by Richard Adams (1999)
  11. Cover of Daniel by Richard Adams (2006)
  12. Cover of Watership Down: The Graphic Novel by Richard Adams, book 1 of the James Sturm Graphic Novels series (2023)
  1. 1
    Watership DownWatership Down #11972 · 482 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1972482
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    ShardikBeklan Empire #11974 · 604 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974604
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Nature Through the Seasons1975 · 112 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1975112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Tyger Voyage1976 · 32 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197632
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Ship's Cat1977 · 32 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197732
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Plague Dogs1977 · 480 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1977480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Nature Day and Night1978 · confirmed 2/4
    1978–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 9
    The Unbroken Web: Stories and Fables1980 · confirmed 2/4
    1980–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 10
    The Girl in a Swing1980 · confirmed 2/4
    1980–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 11
    Voyage Through the Antarctic1982 · 160 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 12
    The Legend of Te Tuna1982 · 72 pages · confirmed 2/4
    198272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 13
    MaiaBeklan Empire #21984 · 1128 pages · confirmed 2/4
    19841128
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 14
    A Nature Diary1985 · 160 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 15
    Traveller1988 · 355 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1988355
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 16
    The Day Gone By: An Autobiography1990 · 432 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 17
    Antarctica1990 · 80 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199080
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 18
    Tales from Watership DownWatership Down #21996 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 19
    The Outlandish Knight1999 · 249 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1999249
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 20
    Daniel2006 · 247 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 21
    The Adventures of Egg Box Dragon2017 · 32 pages · confirmed 2/4
    201732
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 22
    Watership Down: The Graphic NovelJames Sturm Graphic Novels #12023 · 384 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2023384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Richard Adams 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.

Watership Down in order

2 books
  1. 1. Watership Down
  2. 2. Tales from Watership Down

Beklan Empire in order

2 books
  1. 1. Shardik
  2. 2. Maia

James Sturm Graphic Novels in order

1 book
  1. 1. Watership Down: The Graphic Novel

Standalone books

17 books

17 Richard Adams titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Richard Adams books in order?

You only need to read Richard Adams 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 Richard Adams

Start with Watership Down (1972), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Richard Adams book?

Watership Down: The Graphic Novel (2023) is the newest Richard Adams book released so far.

Is there a new Richard Adams book coming?

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

Awards Richard Adams has won

Wikidata records 2 awards and 5 nominations for Richard Adams. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Richard Adams at a glance

Paused
No new Richard Adams title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Richard Adams books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
5,473 pages across the 19 of 22 books with a recorded length, a median of 247 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Richard Adams books, 8 of 22, were published in the 1980s.

What the Richard Adams books are about

21 of the 22 Richard Adams books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: adventure stories is tagged on 4 of 21. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.