Five Towns Books in Order
Five Towns by Arnold Bennett contains 9 books, published between 1898 and 1913. The first book is A Man from the North (1898) and the newest is Married Life / The Regent (1913). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 9
- Published
- 1898–1913
- Pages on record
- 1,816 in 8 of 9 books
- Reading time
- 30–45 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,816 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 8 of 9 titles with a page count on record.
Five Towns gathers nine Arnold Bennett books published between 1898 and 1913. Recorded subjects include the pottery industry, city and town life, the middle class, England, women, and social life and customs. A Man from the North (1898) opens the listing and Married Life, also issued as The Regent (1913), closes it. Between them sit Anna of the Five Towns, also issued as Cupid and Commonsense (1902), Tales of the Five Towns (1905), The Grim Smile of the Five Towns (1907), The Old Wives' Tale (1908), The Card, also issued as Denry the Audacious (1911), The Matador of the Five Towns (1912) and The Old Adam (1913). The median recorded length is 204 pages.
How many Five Towns books are there?
Five Towns has 9 books, released between 1898 and 1913.
Five Towns Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 9 Five Towns 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.
- 1A Man from the North1898 · 92 pages · confirmed 1/41898921/4
- 2Anna of the Five Towns / Cupid and Commonsense1902 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/419022241/4
- 3Tales of the Five Towns1905 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/419051601/4
- 4The Grim Smile of the Five Towns1907 · 191 pages · confirmed 1/419071911/4
- 5The Old Wives' Tale1908 · 565 pages · confirmed 1/419085651/4
- 6The Card / Denry the Audacious1911 · 218 pages · confirmed 1/419112181/4
- 7The Matador of the Five Towns1912 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/419122561/4
- 8The Old Adam1913 · confirmed 1/41913–1/4
- 9Married Life / The Regent1913 · 110 pages · confirmed 1/419131101/4
Is there a chronological order for Five Towns?
No separate chronological order is on record for Five Towns, because none of the book listings this catalogue draws on publishes one; the publication order above is the only order given.
Do you have to read Five Towns books in order?
You should read the Five Towns books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each Five Towns book also stands alone.
Where to start with Five Towns
Start with A Man from the North (1898), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Five Towns book?
Married Life / The Regent (1913) is the newest Five Towns book released so far.
Is there a new Five Towns book coming?
No next Five Towns book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Five Towns at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest Five Towns title on record dates from 1913, 113 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- Five Towns books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 1,816 pages across the 8 of 9 books with a recorded length, a median of 204 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Five Towns books, 4 of 9, were published in the 1910s.
What the Five Towns books are about
8 of the 9 Five Towns books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: city and town life is tagged on 4 of 8. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- City and town life 4 of 8 books
- England 4 of 8 books
- Pottery industry 3 of 8 books
- Social life and customs 3 of 8 books
- English literature 2 of 8 books
- Women 2 of 8 books
More books by Arnold Bennett
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Arnold Bennett books in order 100 books