John Masters Cover Gallery

Nightrunners of Bengal (London, Michael Joseph, 1951; New York, Viking, 1951)
Penguin 1076, 1955, 361pp, 2/6.
---- [Xth imp.] 1959, 3/6.
---- [4th imp.] 5/-. Cover by Charles Raymond
Sphere 0722-10551-7, 1977, 331pp.

The Deceivers (London, Michael Joseph, 1952; New York, Viking, 1952)
Penguin 1085, 1955, 253pp, 2/6.
---- [2nd imp.] 2/6. Cover by David Caplan
---- [3rd imp.] 2/6.
---- [Xth imp.] 3/6. Cover by Charles Raymond?
Corgi 0552-09142-1, 1973, 286pp.
Sphere 0722-15873-4, 1982, 285pp.

The Lotus and the Wind (London, Michael Joseph, 1953; New York, Viking, 1953)
Penguin 1166, 1956, 265pp, 2/6.
---- [Xth imp.] 3/6
---- [6th imp.] 3/6.
Corgi 0552-09256-8, 1973, 283pp.
Sphere 0722-15807-6, 1984, 283pp, £1.95.

John Masters' third novel about India has as its central figure Robin Savage, a strange, contradictory character. He seems never to need the love or company of his fellow beings, yet as a soldier he is a careful, considerate officer. Through a misunderstanding he is accused of cowardice and this book has as its theme the mission he undertakes to live down this rumour, for the sake of his wife and the military traditions of his family, and to try to find what he is seeking in the emptiness of the wild and barren border country. His mission in 1880 was one of the most dangerous and important secret service appointments in the history of British India.
    His relationship with his wife, who wants both to bind him and to free him with her love, with his faithful Gurkha orderly, and with his Russian quarry Marulev, a man who is also seeking self-realization, are understandingly described, and the violence and fear of his journey give this book intensity in excitement as well as in tranquility. (Penguin, 1956)

The North-West Frontier, 1880. Behind lay such peace and security as India knew. Ahead the land was jagged and the people harsh and the sky unrelenting. In this violent and inhospitable landscape the new Bengal Army battled to maintain the rule of the Raj.
    Into these wild hinterlands an inexperienced Gurkha officer named Robin Savage rode off on a desperate mission to probe the rumours of a threatened Russian invasion. It was a task to test the mettle of even the most hardened regular, let alone one who carried with him the cruel stigma of cowardice in the face of the enemy.
    Success would make a hero of the  young soldier. Failure would blacken forever the reputation of the great army family whose name he proudly bore... (Sphere, 1983)

Bhowani Junction (London, Michael Joseph, 1954; New York, Viking, 1954)
Penguin 1439, 1960, 381pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 3/6. Cover by Denis Piper
---- [Xth imp.]
Corgi 0552-09691-1, 1975, 414pp.
Sphere 0722-15874-2, 1983, 414pp.

Bhowani Junction is set in India at the time of partition. The events are related first-hand in three separate narratives by the main figures: Patrick Taylor, Victoria Jones and Rodney Savage. It is through their eyes that we see some of the personal and social problems of modern India. (Penguin, 1958)

Coromandel! (London, Michael Joseph, 1955; New York, Viking, 1955)
Penguin 1305, 1958, 298pp, 3/6.
---- [2nd imp.] 3/6. Cover by Denis Piper?
---- [Xth imp.]
Corgi 0552-09616-4, 1975, 295pp.

Far, Far the Mountain Peak (London, Michael Joseph, 1957; New York, Viking, 1957)
Penguin 1543, 1961, 395pp.
Corgi 0552-09572-9, 1974, 444pp, 50p.
Sphere 0772-15808-4, 1985, 375pp.

Far, Far the Mountain Peak is a portrayal of twenty years in the life of Peter Savage, British civil servant and mountaineer. A man of ruthless will and ambition from his Cambridge days to his time of near glory in India, Peter Savage is determined to reach the top and his motto is 'at all costs'. Talented, brilliant, lonely, he wins the love of a woman who both understands and fears him, and he enjoys the loyalty and friendship of an English peer and an Indian patriot.
    But this life and career are cold-bloodedly plotted so that the people close to him are essential to his design for fame and greatness, and he is indifferent to his destructive effect on them as human beings.
    A tragic revelation of his own false values is the turning point of his life, and how he finds his way to self-redemption is the magnificent climax of the novel. (Penguin, 1961)

Towering over the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan mountain range was the proud virgin summit of Meru—twenty-seven thousand and forty feet of icy splendour which had stood unchallenged since time immemorial, until, in the spring of 1913, a man led his party to begin the long, perilous climb to the top.
    The man was Peter Savage, and all his life he had betted against ridiculous odds—taken decisions where others had hesitated. Friends both loved and feared him—would do anything in their power to help him. Now Savage wanted Meru, and no matter what it cost, he was determined to win the battle between the mountain and the man... (Corgi, 1974)

Fandango Rock (London, Michael Joseph, 1959; New York, Harper, 1959)
Penguin 1662, 1961, 350pp.
Sphere 0722-15977-3, 1976, 330pp.

Fandango ... Rock ... Pasodoble ... In three action-crammed movements John Masters works out the destiny of Cesar de Aguirre, an arrogant hidalgo turned bullfighter 'on principal', and of Kit Freemantle, an impulsive, headstrong American girl. Against the setting of an American strategic air-base in Spain, in the wild, colourful, often terrifying drama of this magnificent story, Cesar comes to stand for the very soul of Spain – perhaps of Europe – and Kit for the free human heart of America, yearning to be loved.

The Venus of Konpara (London, Michael Joseph, 1960; New York, Harper, 1960)
Penguin 2357, 1965, 253pp.
Corgi 0552-09400-5, 1973, 254pp.
Sphere 0772-15806-8, 1985, 212pp.

To the Coral Strand (London, Michael Joseph, 1962; New York, Harper, 1962)
New English Library/Four Square 1168, 1965, 383pp.
---- [2nd(?) imp.] 1968, 383pp.
Corgi 0552-10078-1, 1976, 320pp.

Trial at Monomoy (London, Michael Joseph, 1964; New York, Harper, 1964)
New English Library/Four Square 1700, 1967, 315pp.
New English Library 2788, 1970.
Corgi 0552-09898-1, 1975, 347pp, 65p. Cover by Paul Wright

Monomoy is a small American coastal town... smug, prim, sinful, and ripe for disaster. As Monomoy's inhabitants go about their daily business and nightly intrigues, disaster is gathering as surely as the waves that break on her sandy beaches.
    For Monomoy is confronted with annihilation as a tornado heads straight for her: for ten dreadful and revealing days her fate hangs in the balance... fear, hope, strength and weakness are ruthlessly laid bare. Can the townspeople survive the threat from nature? Do they deserve to?

The Breaking Strain (London, Michael Joseph, 1967; New York, Delacorte, 1967)
Corgi 0552-08253-8, 1969, 252pp.

The Rock (London, Michael Joseph, 1970; London, Putnam, 1970)
Corgi 0552-08832-3, 1971, 475pp.
Sphere 0747-40391-0,  1989, 383pp.

The Ravi Lancers (London, Michael Joseph, 1972; New York, Doubleday, 1972)
Corgi 0552-09452-8, 1974, 366pp.
Sphere 0722-15825-4, 1985, 365pp.

The fields of Flanders were a tough proving ground for the Ravi Lancers in the bitter opening months of the Great War. They had come to Europe as the private army of a powerful Indian prince; the Rajah's heir, the demi-god Prince Krishna Ram himself, was among their number. But now they were being forged into a first-class fighting unit by a new C.O. – the hard, uncompromising Warren Bateman, a professional soldier who cared little for the Lancers' customs and traditions.
    In such circumstances, the clash of interests between Bateman and Krishna was inevitable. So too was a conflict of loyalties among the men. And there, in the trenches far from home, the Ravi Lancers found themselves torn between allegiances to their own ancient deities and their debt to an alien god of war – a god under whose auspices, for a cause that was not their own, many of them would be called upon to perform the supreme sacrifice...

Thunder at Sunset (London, Michael Joseph, 1974; New York, Doubleday, 1974)
Corgi 0552-10096-X, 1976, 320pp.

The Field-Marshal's Memoirs (London, Michael Joseph, 1975; New York, Doubleday, 1975)
Sphere 0722-10408-1, 1976, 303pp, 65p.

Field-Marshal Sir John Durham is approaching the end of his life. Twenty-eight years have passed since the World War II Balkan campaign and his finest hour. Suddenly he decides to write his memoirs – to tell what really happened in the legendary campaign. And the truth will explode like a grenade in the corridors of power...

The Himalayan Concerto (London, Michael Joseph, 1976; New York, Doubleday, 1976)
Sphere 0722-10550-9, 1977, 316pp, £2.25.

Rodney Bateman's visit to Kashmir was intended as a nostalgic working holiday. He was a composer inspired to write a concerto to convey all the haunting grandeur of the Himalayas. But then he encountered an old flame, Ayesha, a beautiful government agent who needed his help. The Chinese were massing troops for an attack on Bengal ... Where? When? A composer, travelling the troubled border areas to research into local music, would have an ideal opportunity for espionage. Rodney's Himalayan Concerto began to take on a deadly counterpoint.

Now, God Be Thanked (London, Michael Joseph, 1979; New York, McGraw, 1979)
Sphere 0722-10553-3, 1979, 699pp.

Heart of War (London, Michael Joseph, 1980; New York, McGraw, 1980)
Sphere 0722-10467-7, 1981, 695pp.

January 1, 1916: Europe is bleeding to death as the corpses rot from Poland to Gallipoli in the cruel grip of the Great War...
    Heart of War – follows the fate and fortunes of the Rowland family and those people bound up in their lives: the Cate squirearchy, the Strattons who manage the Rowland-owned factory, and the humble, multi-talented Gorse family.
    Heart of War – during the years 1916 and 1917, the appalling slaughter of the Somme and Passchendaele cuts deep into the hearts of the British people as military conscription looms over Britain for the first time in a thousand years.
    Heart of War – is the second self-contained volume in a trilogy entitled Loss of Eden. It is probably the crowning achievement in the long and distinguished career of one of our leading contemporary novelists.

By the Green of the Spring (London, Michael Joseph, 1981; New York, McGraw, 1981)
Sphere  0722-10468-5, 1982, 660pp, £2.50.
---- [Xth imp.] 1990, £4.99.
Warner Books 0751-50176-X, 1993, 660pp.

1918 dawns desolate over the fields of Flanders. Decimated by the worst war the world has ever seen, neither British nor German troops can break the deadlock of the trenches. After four years of murderous stalemate, peace seems buried for ever. But finally, one by one, the guns fall silent...
    From the North-West Frontier to the war in France and the civil war in Ireland, John Masters follows the fortunes of four Kent families – the Cates, the Rowlands, the Strattons and the Goreses – through the cataclysm that ended the golden Edwardian dream for ever.
    By the Green of the Spring is the third self-contained volume in the Loss of Eden trilogy, a magnificent conclusion to an enthralling epic of war and peace by a major novelist.

Man of War (London, Michael Joseph, 1983; as High Command, New York, William Morrow, 1984)
Sphere 0722-15877-7, 1984, 371pp.
---- [Xth imp.] 1987, £3.50.
---- [Xth imp.] 1989, £3.99.

Miller was a career soldier—one of the best. He had twenty years and more of active service behind him—from the trenches of World War 1 to riot-torn India, from the Spanish Civil War to a heroic rearguard action at Dunkirk.
    His tactical brilliance and unquestioned courage played their part, of course. But there were other battles he had to fight—with the old guard who despised his unorthodoxy with brother officers who could never accept a shopkeeper's son as one of their own, with the women whose love he jeopardised in his determination to succeed.
    This is Miller's story—a vivid, unforgettable portrait of a soldier. And this too is John Masters' epitaph—the novel that only he could write.

NON-FICTION

The Compleat Indian Angler, illus. by the author (London, Country Life, 1938)
(no UK paperback edition)

Bugles and a Tiger: A Personal Adventure (London, Michael Joseph, 1956; as Bugles and a Tiger: A Volume of Autobiography, New York, Viking, 1956)
New English Library/Four Square 715, 1962, 256pp.
---- [?2nd imp.] 1964.
New English Library/Four Square 1931, 1967.
Corgi 0552-09230-4, 1973, 254pp.

The Road Past Mandalay: A Personal Narrative (London, Michael Joseph, 1961; New York, Harper, 1961)
New English Library/Four Square 947, 1964, 333pp.
New English Library/Four Square 1932, 1967
Corgi 0552-09291-6, 1973, 332pp.
Cassell 0304-36157-7, 2002, 344pp.

Fourteen Eighteen (London, Michael Joseph, 1965)
Corgi 0552-98558-9, 1970, 177pp.

Casanova (London, Michael Joseph, 1969; New York, Bernard Geis Associates, 1969)
Futura 0860-07368-8, 1976, 256pp.
Cardinal 0747-40388-0, 1989, v+224pp.
Penguin 0141-39038-7, 2001, 303pp.

Pilgrim Son: A Personal Odyssey (London, Michael Joseph, 1971; New York, Putnam, 1971)
Corgi 0552-09330-0, 1973, 318pp.