Simon Raven Books in Order
38 books are credited to Simon Raven, published between 1959 and 2025; 2 of them appeared after Simon Raven's death in 2001. The first book is Brother Cain (1959) and the newest is The Islands of Sorrow and Other Macabre Tales (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 38
- Published
- 1959–2025
- Pages on record
- 6,825 in 31 of 38 books
- Reading time
- 114–171 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,825 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 31 of 38 titles with a page count on record.
Simon Raven (1927-2001) was an English novelist, playwright, essayist and television writer, as well known for a louche life as for the work itself. Expelled from Charterhouse School, Raven served as an infantry officer in National Service, studied at King's College, Cambridge, and later resigned his commission over gambling debts rather than face a court martial. The catalogue holds 38 books dated 1959 to 2025, opening with Brother Cain and The Feathers of Death and taking in the Alms for Oblivion and First-Born of Egypt sequences. Upper-class England, cricket, the Second World War and gay military life recur as subjects.
How many Simon Raven books are there?
Simon Raven has 38 books, released between 1959 and 2025. 2 of them were published after Simon Raven's death in 2001. They include 2 series and 21 titles listed outside any series.
Simon Raven Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 38 Simon Raven 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.
- 1Brother Cain1959 · 252 pages · confirmed 1/419592521/4
- 2The Feathers of Death1959 · confirmed 1/41959–1/4
- 3Doctors Wear Scarlet1960 · confirmed 1/41960–1/4
- 4The English Gentleman1961 · 190 pages · confirmed 1/419611901/4
- 5Close Of Play1962 · 206 pages · confirmed 1/419622061/4
- 6Boys will be Boys1963 · confirmed 1/41963–1/4
- 719642501/4
- 81965–1/4
- 9Royal Foundation1966 · confirmed 1/41966–1/4
- 1019662181/4
- 1119671761/4
- 1219681571/4
- 13They Made Their Name1968 · confirmed 1/41968–1/4
- 1419702241/4
- 1519712061/4
- 1619722401/4
- 1719742371/4
- 18The Fortunes Of Fingel1976 · 142 pages · confirmed 1/419761421/4
- 1919762821/4
- 20The Roses Of Picardie1980 · 466 pages · confirmed 1/419804661/4
- 21An Inch of Fortune1981 · 188 pages · confirmed 1/419811881/4
- 22Shadows On The Grass1982 · 172 pages · confirmed 1/419821721/4
- 23September Castle1983 · 290 pages · confirmed 1/419832901/4
- 2419843041/4
- 2519852841/4
- 2619862981/4
- 27The Old School1986 · 139 pages · confirmed 1/419861391/4
- 2819871981/4
- 2919892041/4
- 30Bird Of Ill Omen1989 · 200 pages · confirmed 1/419892001/4
- 31The Old Gang1989 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/419892241/4
- 3219901841/4
- 33Is There Anybody There? Said the Traveller1991 · 190 pages · confirmed 1/419911901/4
- 3419921981/4
- 35The Islands Of Sorrow1994 · 88 pages · confirmed 1/41994881/4
- 36Remember Your Grammar1997 · 105 pages · confirmed 1/419971051/4
- 37The World of Simon Raven2002 · 313 pages · confirmed 1/420023131/4
- 38The Islands of Sorrow and Other Macabre Tales2025 · confirmed 1/42025–1/4
Simon Raven series in order
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Alms for Oblivion books in order 10 books
Simon Raven 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.
First-Born of Egypt in order
7 booksStandalone books
21 books21 Simon Raven titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Simon Raven books in order?
You only need to read Simon Raven 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 Simon Raven
Start with The Rich Pay Late (1964), the first Alms for Oblivion book. The earliest catalogued title overall is Brother Cain (1959).
What is the newest Simon Raven book?
The Islands of Sorrow and Other Macabre Tales (2025) is the newest Simon Raven book released so far.
Is there a new Simon Raven book coming?
No next Simon Raven book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Simon Raven at a glance
- Died
- Simon Raven died in 2001, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Simon Raven are still being published after Simon Raven's death in 2001; the newest appeared in 2025.
- Release pace
- Simon Raven books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 6,825 pages across the 31 of 38 books with a recorded length, a median of 206 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Simon Raven books, 12 of 38, were published in the 1980s.
What the Simon Raven books are about
32 of the 38 Simon Raven books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: upper class is tagged on 10 of 32. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Upper class 10 of 32 books
- Biography 4 of 32 books
- Authors 4 of 32 books
- Fiction in English 4 of 32 books
- Suspense 3 of 32 books
- Cricket 2 of 32 books
- England 2 of 32 books
- Great Britain, biography 2 of 32 books