Alistair MacLean (1922-1987) was a Scottish novelist of thrillers and adventures. His novels The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare were all adapted into successful films. His novels do not include much sex or romance because he believed it would slow down the action.

His first four novels (H.M.S. Ulysses up to The Last Frontier) were third-persona narratives, mostly set during WWII and were somewhat epic in tone. His next four (or six if you include his Ian Stuart novels; starting with Night Without End up to Ice Station Zebra) were first person narratives set in contemporary times. The next six (When Eight Bells Toll to Bear Island) were not consistent in theme but were considered to be high quality work. His last twelve (starting with The Way to Dusty Death) were weak, considered to be lazy and too reliant on dialogue. Below is a list of Alistair MacLean’s books in order of when they were originally published:

Publication Order of Guns of Navarone Books

The Guns of Navarone (1957)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Force 10 from Navarone (1968)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Alistair MacLean's UNACO Books

Hostage Tower (With: John Denis) (1980)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Air Force One Is Down (With: John Denis) (1981)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Death Train (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1988)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Alistair MacLean's Death Train (By: Alastair MacNeill) (1988)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Night Watch (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1989)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Red Alert (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1990)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Time of the Assassins (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1991)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Dead Halt (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1992)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Code Breaker (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1993)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Rendezvous (With: Alastair MacNeill) (1995)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Prime Target (With: Hugh Miller) (1997)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Borrowed Time (With: Hugh Miller) (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

H.M.S. Ulysses (1955)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
South by Java Head (1958)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Last Frontier / The Secret Ways (1959)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Night Without End (1960)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Ice Station Zebra (1960)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Fear is the Key (1961)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Black Shrike / The Dark Crusader (1961)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Golden Rendezvous (1962)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Satan Bug (1962)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
When Eight Bells Toll (1966)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Where Eagles Dare (1967)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Puppet on a Chain (1969)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Caravan to Vaccares (1970)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Bear Island (1971)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Way to Dusty Death (1973)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Breakheart Pass (1974)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Circus (1975)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Golden Gate (1975)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Goodbye, California (1977)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Seawitch (1977)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Athabasca (1980)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
River of Death (1981)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Partisans (1982)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Floodgate (1983)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
San Andreas (1984)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Santorini (1986)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Alastair MacLean Short Story Collections

The Lonely Sea (1985)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Alastair MacLean Non-Fiction Books

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Captain Cook (1972)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Anthologies

Notes: The Last Frontier is also titled The Secret Ways. The Dark Crusaders was also published under the title The Black Shrike. The novels Death Train, Night Watch, Red Alert, Time of the Assassins, Dead Halt, Code Breaker and Rendezvous were co-authored by Alastair MacNeill. Hostage Train and Air Force One is Down were co-authored by John Denis. Prime Target and Borrowed Time was co-authored by Hugh Miller.

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Order of Books » Authors » Order of Alistair MacLean Books

3 Responses to “Order of Alistair MacLean Books”

  1. Thomas Ray Worley: 7 years ago

    Yes, we can disambiguate our Alistair MacLean a bit by calling him by his full name, Alistair Stuart MacLean, 1922-1987.

    Reply

  2. Fred: 9 years ago

    Fire of Humiliation is nót written by Alistair MacLean. Yes, it is written by An Alistair Maclean, but not THE Alistair Maclean we love to read.

    Reply

    • Sue T: 7 years ago

      Was wondering how he had written a book after he had passed.

      Reply

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