Desmond Bagley

My collection of Desmond Bagley's novels is a pretty rag-tag bunch, although I'm pleased with the way the covers cleaned up for this gallery. I liked Bagley back in the days I was reading thrillers and have re-read a couple recently: Night of Error was OK, one of two novels completed by his wife following Bagley's death in 1983. I've more recently finished reading The Freedom Trap (filmed as The Mackintosh Man (1973) with Paul Newman), which is a fine thriller, rather spoiled by two things on the edition that I read: the blurb on the back gives away a major twist and the cover, although not quite giving the whole game away, pretty much reveals the climax of the book. But it was definitely still worth (re-)reading. (Since writing the above I have also re-read Running Blind, which is a terrific thriller set in Iceland and one of Bagley's finest.)

There has been some confusion over Bagley's real name, with some sources giving Desmond as the pen-name of Simon Bagley. This isn't the case: his birth (in Kendal, Cumberland) is registered as Desmond Bagley. He was the younger son of John Bagley and his wife Hannah M. (nee Whittle), who were married in Bolton in 1912. John Bagley was born in 1913 and Desmond followed ten years later on 29 October 1923.

Please note that I've not included the House of Stratus editions in the following listings as I've not had time to type up the information. I'll add those editions plus a few additional pics when I get a chance.

The Golden Keel
Fontana 1509, 1965
---- [2nd imp.], May 1967; [3rd imp.], May 1967
Fontana 2049, [4th imp.], Jul 1969, 220pp, 5/-. Cover by unknown
Fontana 2829, 1972
----, [12th imp.], Apr 1973, 220pp, 30p. Cover: photo
Fontana 5583 (0006-15583-9) [23rd imp.] Mar 1979, 220pp, 85p. Cover by unknown
----, 1986
----, 1991
----, 1993

High Citadel
Fontana, 1967, 255pp.
----, [2nd imp.] 1968
Fontana 2539, [3rd imp.] 1971
----, [9th imp.] Mar 1973, 255pp, 30p. Cover: photo
Fontana 5584 (0006-15584-7), Mar 1979, 255pp, 85p. Cover by unknown
Fontana 0006-17305-5, 1986.
----, [31st imp.] Jun 1988, 255pp, £2.95. Cover by unknown
----, [33rd imp.] 1990, 288pp.

Wyatt's Hurricane
Fontana, 1968
----, 1970.
Fontana 2830,  1972.
----, [15th imp.] Mar 1976, 254pp, 60p. Cover: photo
Fontana 0006-15398-4, 1978, 254pp.
----, [28th imp.] 1990, 301pp.

Landslide
Fontana, 1969
----, [Xth imp.] 1971.
----, [7th imp.] 1972, 253pp, 30p. Cover: photo
Fontana 5257 (0006-15267-8), 1978.
---- [ 22nd imp.] Apr 1979, 253pp, 85p. Cover by unknown
----, 1986.
----, [32nd imp.] Nov 1988, 253pp, £2.95. Cover by unknown

The Vivero Letter
Fontana, 1970, 253pp.
Fontana 2669, [10th imp.] 1973, 253pp.
----, [11th imp.] Nov 1973, 253pp, 35p. Cover: photo
Fontana 5397 (0006-15397-6), 1978.
---- [23rd imp.] Jan 1981, 253pp, £1.25. Cover by unknown
----, 1986.
----, [30th imp.] Jun 1988, 253pp, £2.95. Cover by unknown
----, [32nd imp.] Nov 1990, 300pp, £2.99. Cover by unknown
House of Stratus 1842-32019-X, 2000, 238pp.

The Spoilers
Fontana 2535, 1971
----, [10th imp.] Feb 1974, 256pp, 35p. Cover: photo
Fontana 0006-15268-6, [18th imp.] 1978, 256pp.
---- [22nd imp.] Jan 1980, 256pp, £1.00. Cover by unknown
---- [27th imp.] Jan 1984, 256pp, £1.50. Cover by unknown
----, 1986.
Fontana 7302, [30th imp.] Nov 1988, 256pp, £2.95. Cover by unknown
Fontana 0006-17302-0, 1990, 320pp.

Running Blind
Fontana 2752, 1972, 221pp, 30p. Cover: photo
----, 1978. TV tie-in.
Fontana 0006-16534-6, 1982, 221pp.
----, 1986.
----, 1990.
----, 1993, 254pp.

The Freedom Trap
revised edition, Fontana 3582, 1973
----, [8th imp.] May 1974, 222pp, 35p. Cover: photo. *MTI
----, [10th imp.] Mar 1975, 222pp, 50p. [cover as above]
Fontana 0006-15266-X, 1978, 222pp.
----, [27th imp.] Mar 1990, 270pp, £2.99. Cover by unknown

The Tightrope Men
Fontana 00006-13706-7, 1974, 254pp, 40p. Cover: photo
Fontana 0006-15755-6, 1979.
----, 1986.
----, 1990.
----, 1993.
The Times, 2010, 285pp, n/p.

The Snow Tiger
Fontana 4319, 1976, 253pp, 70p. Cover by unknown
Fontana 0006-17301-2, [10th imp.] Feb 1986, 253pp, £2.50. Cover by unknown
----, [13th imp.] Apr 1988, 253pp, £2.95. [same cover as above]
----, 1990, 253pp.

The Enemy
Fontana 5479, 1978, 255pp, 85p. Cover: photo
Fontana 0006-15833-1, [3rd imp.] 1980
Fontana 0006-17304-7, 1986.
----, [Xth imp.] 1990.
----, [Xth imp.] 1993

Flyaway
Fontana 5875, 1979, 251pp, 95p. Cover: photo by David Fairman
Fontana 0006-166113, [Xth imp.] 1982, 251pp.
----, 1990.
Fontana, 1993.

Bahama Crisis
Fontana 0006-16304-1, 1982, 250pp, £1.50. Cover by unknown
----, [xth imp.] 1990.

Windfall
Fontana 6744, 1983, 320pp, £1.75.Cover by unknown

Night of Error [completed by Joan Bagley]
Fontana 7166, 1984, 314pp, £1.95. Cover by unknown. *Continental edition
0006-17166-4, [2nd imp.] 1985, 314pp.
----, 1990.
----, [10th imp.] n.d., 331pp, £4.99. Cover by Kevin Tweddell

Juggernaut [completed by Joan Bagley]
Fontana 7250, 1985, 320pp. * Continental edition
0006-17250-4, [2nd imp.] July 1986, 320pp, £2.95. Cover by unknown
----, [Xth imp.] 1991?, 320pp.

Domino Island [with Michael Davies]
HarperCollins 978-000833464-2, 2019, 309pp, £12.99. Cover design by Mulcahey Design