Order of Book Series
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William Boyd Books in Order

William Boyd has written 33 books, published between 1981 and 2026. The first book is A Good Man in Africa (1981) and the newest is Cold Sunset (2026). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
33
Published
1981–2026
Confirmed
1 of 33 titles
Pages on record
6,856 in 22 of 33 books
Reading time
114–171 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,856 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 22 of 33 titles with a page count on record.

See all 33 books in order Printable William Boyd checklist
Photo of William Boyd, author of the Gabriel Dax series

Born on 7 March 1952, William Boyd is a Scottish writer who works as a novelist, short story author, screenwriter and film director. The catalogue holds 33 books from A Good Man in Africa (1981) to Cold Sunset (2026), with An Ice-Cream War (1982), Brazzaville Beach (1990), Any Human Heart (2002) and Restless (2006) among them. Boyd scripted the film Chaplin (1992) and directed The Trench (1999), a drama of the First World War. Prizes include the Whitbread First Novel Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Costa Book Award. Gabriel Dax is a Boyd series, and subjects include Africa, artists and both world wars.

How many William Boyd books are there?

William Boyd has 33 books, released between 1981 and 2026. 3 of them belong to the Gabriel Dax series.

William Boyd Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 33 William Boyd books in the order they were released, 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 A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd (1981)
  2. Cover of On the Yankee Station by William Boyd (1981)
  3. Cover of An Ice-Cream War by William Boyd (1982)
  4. Cover of Stars and Bars by William Boyd (1984)
  5. Cover of School Ties by William Boyd (1985)
  6. Cover of The New Confessions by William Boyd (1987)
  7. Cover of Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (1990)
  8. Cover of The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd (1993)
  9. Cover of The Dream Lover by William Boyd (1995)
  10. Cover of Killing Lizards by William Boyd (1995)
  11. Cover of Transfigured Night by William Boyd (1995)
  12. Cover of Armadillo by William Boyd (1998)
  13. Cover of Nat Tate by William Boyd (1998)
  14. Cover of Any Human Heart by William Boyd (2002)
  15. Cover of Fascination by William Boyd (2004)
  16. Cover of Bamboo by William Boyd (2005)
  17. Cover of Restless by William Boyd (2006)
  18. Cover of Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd (2009)
  19. Cover of Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd (2012)
  20. Cover of Sweet Caress by William Boyd (2015)
  21. Cover of The Argument by William Boyd (2016)
  22. Cover of Trio by William Boyd (2021)
  1. 1
    A Good Man in Africa1981 · 342 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981342
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    On the Yankee Station1981 · 217 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981217
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    An Ice-Cream War1982 · 408 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982408
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Stars and Bars1984 · 334 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984334
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    School Ties1985 · 144 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985144
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The New Confessions1987 · 476 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1987476
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Brazzaville Beach1990 · confirmed 2/4
    1990–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Blue Afternoon1993 · 367 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993367
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Dream Lover1995 · 355 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995355
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Killing Lizards1995 · 83 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199583
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Destiny of Nathalie X1995 · confirmed 2/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Transfigured Night1995 · confirmed 2/4
    1995–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Protobiography1998 · confirmed 2/4
    1998–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Armadillo1998 · 352 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998352
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Nat Tate1998 · 67 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199867
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Any Human Heart2002 · 496 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2002496
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Fascination2004 · 277 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004277
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Bamboo2005 · 528 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005528
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Restless2006 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Ordinary Thunderstorms2009 · confirmed 2/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Waiting for Sunrise2012 · confirmed 2/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Longing2013 · confirmed 2/4
    2013–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    SoloJames Bond #312013 · 336 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Vanishing Game2014 · confirmed 2/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Sweet Caress2015 · 449 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015449
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Argument2016 · 72 pages · confirmed 2/4
    201672
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth2017 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Love is Blind2018 · 369 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2018369
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Trio2021 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2021336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    The Romantic2022 · confirmed 2/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  31. 31
    Gabriel's MoonGabriel Dax #12024 · confirmed 2/4
    2024–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  32. 32
    The PredicamentGabriel Dax #22025 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2025256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  33. 33
    Cold SunsetGabriel Dax #32026 · confirmed 2/4
    2026–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

William Boyd series in order

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

William Boyd 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.

James Bond in order

1 book
  1. 31. Solo

Standalone books

29 books

29 William Boyd titles here are not listed as part of any series.

William Boyd Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the William Boyd books run from A Good Man in Africa (1981) to Cold Sunset (2026), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for William Boyd in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read William Boyd books in order?

You only need to read William Boyd books in order within the Gabriel Dax series, which holds 3 of the 33 William Boyd books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with William Boyd

Start with Gabriel's Moon (2024), the first Gabriel Dax book. The earliest catalogued title overall is A Good Man in Africa (1981).

What is the newest William Boyd book?

Cold Sunset (2026) is the newest William Boyd book released so far.

Is there a new William Boyd book coming?

No next William Boyd 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 William Boyd has won

Wikidata records 7 awards and 2 nominations for William Boyd. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises2025Won
  • Bodley Medal2017Won
  • Grand prix des lectrices de Elle (Novels)2003Won
  • Jean Monnet Prize2003Won
  • James Tait Black Memorial Prize1990Won
  • Somerset Maugham Award1982Wonfor A Good Man in Africa
  • Costa Book Award for First Novel1981Wonfor A Good Man in Africa
  • Booker Prize2002Shortlistedfor Any Human Heart
  • Booker Prize1982Shortlistedfor An Ice-Cream War

William Boyd at a glance

Still publishing
William Boyd published a book as recently as 2026.
Release pace
William Boyd books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
6,856 pages across the 22 of 33 books with a recorded length, a median of 336 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most William Boyd books, 9 of 33, were published in the 1990s.

What the William Boyd books are about

25 of the 33 William Boyd books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: english literature is tagged on 5 of 25. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.