John Masefield books in order
English poet and writer
- Lived
- 1878–1967
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Books
- 78
John Masefield published 13 novels, 3 novellas, 11 non-fiction books, 3 children's books, 25 poetry collections, 5 plays and 18 other books, beginning with The Midnight Folk (1931). The best-known is The Box of Delights (1957).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with John Masefield
Start here
The Box of Delights
John Masefield's most-read book.
Standalone novels in order
A Tarpaulin Muster (1907)
Captain Margaret: A Romance (1908)
Multitude and Solitude (1909)
Salt-Water Poems and Ballads (1912)
Sard Harker (1924)
Odtaa (1926)
The Midnight Folk (1931)
Victorious Troy (1935)
Dead Ned (1938)
Live and Kicking Ned (1939)
Basilissa (1940)
The Bird of Dawning (1956)
Novellas in order
The Old Front Line (1917)
The Wanderer of Liverpool (1930)
Conquer (1941)
Non-fiction in order
Sea Life in Nelson's Time (1905)
Dampier's Voyages (1906)
Essays, Moral and Polite, 1660-1714 (1906)
Lost Endeavour (1910)
William Shakespeare (1911)
On the Spanish Main (1922)
Recent Prose (1924)
Shakespeare & Spiritual Life (1924)
The Conway, from Her Foundation to the Present Day (1933)
New Chum (1944)
The Ledbury Scene as I Have Used It in My Verse (1950)
Children's books in order
A Book of Discoveries (1910)
Jim Davis (1911)
The Box of Delights (1957)
Poetry in order
A Sailor's Garland (1906)
The Everlasting Mercy (1911)
Dauber (1913)
Salt-water Ballads (1913)
The Daffodil Fields (1913)
Philip, the King, and Other Poems (1914)
Lollingdon Downs (1917)
Rosas (1918)
Reynard the Fox (1919)
Enslaved, and Other Poems (1920)
Right Royal (1920)
King Cole (1921)
The Collected Poems of John Masefield (1922)
The Taking of Helen (1923)
Midsummer Night, and Other Tales in Verse (1928)
Minnie Maylow's Story and Other Tales and Scenes (1931)
Poetry (1931)
The Country Scene in Poems (1937)
A Generation Risen (1942)
My Favourite English Poems (1950)
The Bluebells (1961)
Dauber & Reynard the Fox (1962)
Old Raiger, and Other Verse (1964)
In Glad Thanksgiving (1966)
Plays in order
The Tragedy of Pompey the Great (1910)
Good Friday (1915)
The Locked Chest [and] the Sweeps of Ninety-eight; Two Plays in Prose (1916)
The Trial of Jesus (1925)
Tristan and Isolt (1927)
Other books in order
A King's Daughter (1900)
An English Prose Miscellany (1907)
The Tragedy of Nan, and Other Plays (1909)
The Street of To-day (1911)
A Mainsail Haul (1913)
The Faithful (1915)
Gallipoli (1916)
The War and the Future (1918)
A Poem (1919)
St. George and the Dragon (1919)
The Battle of the Somme (1919)
Melloney Holtspur (1922)
The Hawbucks (1929)
The Taking of the Gry (1934)
In the Mill (1941)
The Nine Days Wonder (1941)
Thanks Before Going (1946)
Grace Before Ploughing (1966)
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About John Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon-on-Thames. Among his best known works are the children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and the poems "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever". Shortly after his death his house burned down and was later replaced by a Cheshire Home named after him.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
John Masefield FAQ
- How many books has John Masefield written?
- John Masefield published 13 novels, 3 novellas, 11 non-fiction books, 3 children's books, 25 poetry collections, 5 plays and 18 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read John Masefield's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Box of Delights.
- What is John Masefield's last book?
- The Bird of Dawning (1956).
- What is John Masefield's most famous book?
- The Box of Delights (1957) is John Masefield's most widely read book.
- Can I read John Masefield's books for free?
- Yes. 25 books by John Masefield are in the public domain in the US and free to read online or download here.
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Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers, free texts from Project Gutenberg. Last updated September 2026.