A Rosemary Sutcliff bibliography
The Eagle of the Ninth is widely known, but it is only one of more than fifty books written by Rosemary Sutcliff.
Lists all Rosemary Sutcliff’s books/titles
Find here every title by Rosemary Sutcliff, an author, historical novelist and children’s writer, listed thematically and alphabetically. It includes the book behind Kevin Macdonald’s The Eagle film released in 2010. For a short biography see the Sutcliff Life tab above. For material on a particular book, over at the right hand column use the search box or go to the ‘Subjects’ drop down menu to find anything specific. For a ‘complete library catalogue’ of Rosemary Sutcliff books see here (still a work in progress on LibraryThing). Via the Stories tab at the top you will find a short summary of most of the books.
Thematic
Eagle of the Ninth and similar
The Eagle of the Ninth (1954) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
The Silver Branch (1957) illustrated by Charles Keeping
The Lantern Bearers (1959) illustrated by Charles Keeping
The Capricorn Bracelet (1973) illustrated by Charles Keeping
Three Legions (1980) is an omnibus edition containing the first three books
Camelot or King Arthur novels
Sword at Sunset (1963)
The Sword and the Circle (1979)
The Light Beyond the Forest (1979)
The Road to Camlann (1981)
Other children’s and young adult novels
Chronicles of Robin Hood (1950)
The Queen Elizabeth Story (1950) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
The Armourer’s House (1951)
Brother Dustyfeet (1952)
Simon (1953) illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
Outcast (1955) illustrated by Richard Kennedy
The Shield Ring (1956)
Warrior Scarlet (1957) illustrated by Charles Keeping
Lady in Waiting (1957)
Knight’s Fee (1960) illustrated by Charles Keeping
Bridge Builders (1960)
Dawn Wind (1961) illustrated by Charles Keeping
Beowulf(1961) illustrated by Charles Keeping
The Hound of Ulster (1963) illustrated by Victor Ambrus
The Mark of the Horse Lord (1965) illustrated by Charles Keeping
The Flowers of Adonis (1965)
A Saxon Settler (1965)
The Chief’s Daughter (1967)
The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cool (1967)
A Circlet of Oak Leaves (1968)
The Witch’s Brat (1970)
Tristan and Iseult (1971)
The Truce of the Games (1971)
Heather, Oak, and Olive (1972) contains three stories: The Chief”s Daughter, A Circlet of Oak Leaves, and A Crown of Wild Olive (originally published as The Truce of the Games)
The Changeling (1974) illustrated by Victor Ambrus
We Lived in Drumfyvie (1975) with Margaret Lyford-Pike
Blood Feud (1976) illustrated by Charles Keeping
Sun Horse, Moon Horse (1977)
Shifting Sands (1977)
Song for a Dark Queen (1978)
Frontier Wolf (1980)
Eagle’s Egg (1981)
Bonnie Dundee (1983)
Flame-Coloured Taffeta (1986) illustrated by Rachel Birkett
The Roundabout Horse (1986)
A Little Dog Like You (1987) illustrated by Jane Johnson
The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff (1987) contains Warrior Scarlet, The Mark of the Horse Lord and Knight”s Fee
Little Hound Found (1989)
The Shining Company (1990)
The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup (1993) illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark.
Black Ships Before Troy (1993) illustrated by Alan Lee
Chess-dream in the Garden (1993) illustrated by Ralph Thompson
The Wanderings of Odysseus (1995) illustrated by Alan Lee
Sword Song (1997)
Novels for adults
The Rider of the White Horse (1959)
Sword at Sunset (1963)
The Flowers of Adonis (1969)
Blood and Sand (1987)
Non-fiction
Rudyard Kipling - A Monograph (1960)
Heroes and History (1966) illustrated by Charles Keeping
Blue Remembered Hills (1983) (Her autobiography)
Alphabetical
A Circlet of Oak Leaves (1968)
A Little Dog Like You (1987)
A Saxon Settler (1965)
Beowulf: Dragonslayer (1961)
Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad (1993)
Blood and Sand (1987)
Blood Feud (1976)
Blue Remembered Hills (1983)
Bonnie Dundee (1983)
Bridge Builders (1960)
Brother Dusty-Feet (1952)
Capricorn Bracelet (1973)
Chess Dream in the Garden (1993)
Dawn Wind (1961)
Eagle’s Egg (1981)
Flame-Coloured Taffeta (1986)
Frontier Wolf (1980)
Heather, Oak, and Olive (1972)
Heroes and History (1966)
Knight’s Fee (1960)
Lady in Waiting (1957)
Little Hound Found (1989)
Outcast (1955)
Rudyard Kipling (1960)
Shifting Sands (1977)
Simon (1953)
Song for a Dark Queen (1978)
Sun Horse, Moon Horse (1977)
Sword at Sunset (1963)
Sword Song (1997)
The Armourer’s House (1951)
The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff (1987)
The Changeling (1974)
The Chief’s Daughter (1967)
The Chronicles of Robin Hood (1950)
The Eagle of the Ninth (1954)
The Flowers of Adonis (1969)
The High Deeds of Finn MacCool (1967)
The Hound of Ulster (1963)
The Lantern Bearers (1959)
The Light Beyond the Forest (1979)
The Mark of the Horse Lord (1965)
The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup (1993)
The Queen Elizabeth Story (1950)
The Rider of the White Horse (1959)
The Road to Camlann (1981)
The Roundabout Horse (1986)
The Shield Ring (1956)
The Shining Company (1990)
The Silver Branch (1957)
The Sword and the Circle (1979)
The Truce of the Games (1971)
The Wanderings of Odysseus (1995)
The Witch’s Brat (1970)
Three Legions (1980)
Tristan and Iseult (1971)
Warrior Scarlet (1957)
We Lived in Drumfyvie (1975) (with Margaret Lyford-Pike)
By Date
| 1950 | The Chronicles of Robin Hood |
| 1950 | The Queen Elizabeth Story |
| 1951 | The Armourer’s House |
| 1952 | Brother Dusty-Feet |
| 1953 | Simon |
| 1954 | The Eagle of the Ninth |
| 1955 | Outcast |
| 1956 | The Shield Ring |
| 1957 | Lady in Waiting |
| 1957 | The Silver Branch |
| 1957 | Warrior Scarlet |
| 1959 | The Rider of the White Horse |
| 1959 | The Lantern Bearers |
| 1960 | Bridge Builders |
| 1960 | Knight’s Fee |
| 1960 | Rudyard Kipling |
| 1961 | Beowulf: Dragonslayer |
| 1961 | Dawn Wind |
| 1963 | Sword at Sunset |
| 1963 | The Hound of Ulster |
| 1965 | A Saxon Settler |
| 1965 | The Mark of the Horse Lord |
| 1966 | Heroes and History |
| 1967 | The Chief’s Daughter |
| 1967 | The High Deeds of Finn MacCool |
| 1968 | A Circlet of Oak Leaves |
| 1969 | The Flowers of Adonis |
| 1970 | The Witch’s Brat |
| 1971 | The Truce of the Games |
| 1971 | Tristan and Iseult |
| 1972 | Heather, Oak, and Olive |
| 1973 | Capricorn Bracelet |
| 1974 | The Changeling |
| 1975 | We Lived in Drumfyvie (with Margaret Lyford-Pike) |
| 1977 | Blood Feud |
| 1977 | Shifting Sands |
| 1977 | Sun Horse, Moon Horse |
| 1978 | Song for a Dark Queen |
| 1979 | The Light Beyond the Forest |
| 1979 | The Sword and the Circle |
| 1980 | Frontier Wolf |
| 1980 | Three Legions |
| 1981 | Eagle’s Egg |
| 1981 | The Road to Camlann |
| 1983 | Blue Remembered Hills |
| 1983 | Bonnie Dundee |
| 1986 | Flame-Coloured Taffeta |
| 1986 | The Roundabout Horse |
| 1987 | A Little Dog Like You |
| 1987 | Blood and Sand |
| 1987 | The Best of Rosemary Sutcliff |
| 1990 | The Shining Company |
| 1993 | Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Iliad |
| 1993 | Chess Dream in the Garden |
| 1993 | The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup |
| 1995 | The Wanderings of Odysseus |
| 1997 | Sword Song |
Illustrators
C Walter Hodges
The Armourer’s House (1950)
Brother Dusty Feet (1951)
The Queen Elizabeth Story (1950)
The Eagle of the Ninth (1954)
Simon (1953)
Chess-Dream in the Garden (1993)
Richard Kennedy
Outcast (1955)
Charles Keeping
The Silver Branch (1957)
The Lantern Bearers (1959)
Warrior Scarlet (1958)
Knight’s Fee (1960)
Beowulf: Dragonslayer (1961)
Dawn Wind (1961)
The Mark of the Horse Lord (1965)
The Capricorn Bracelet (1973)
Blood Feud (1976)
Victor Ambrus
The Hound of Ulster (1963)
Tristan and Iseult (1971)
The Changeling (1974)
A Little Dog Like You (1987)
Michael Charlton
The High Deeds of Finn MacCool (1967)
Emma Chichester Clark
The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup (1993)
Alan Lee
Black Ships Before Troy (1993)
The Wanderings of Odysseus (1995)
This page has the following sub pages.
Doesn’t “Capricorn” bracelet belong with the Roman Britain group. And, isn’t “Sword at Sunset” really part of that sequence and not King Arthur, which you might like to entitle “Camelot” differentiate from the Dark Age “real” Kign Arthur?
Working on it!
Wow! Never knew she wrote so much!
I’ve read some of her works (Eagle of the 9th most recently) and always really enjoyed her, but tended not to see her on the shelves when shopping. One of the first books I really liked was Beowulf.
I think I feel an Amazon order coming on!
Good Blog – looks like an excellent resource at first glance. Are you aiming to be definitive?
Oops – using wrong identity there – governorflax is actually Chris Paul.
Governorflax: Thanks – definitive is a bit beyond me, but over time as comprehensive as I can be.
I’ve updated my article with the correct spelling of the name, many thanks for drawing it to my attention.
I’ve been trying for YEARS to remember which Sutcliff novel was the one about the boy who founded St Bart’s Hospital in London. Something about healing the leg of a boy who was injured in a fall during the building of a church as I recall. I adored that book but I’ve never been able to remember the title.
Anthony is quite right. The novel is The Witch’s Brat (London: Oxford UP, 1970).
I think it is Witch’s Brat …
“Lady in Waiting” (1957), the story of Sir Walter Raleigh as seen through the eyes of his wife, Bess Throckmorton, is generally regarded as one of the RS novels written specifically for adults.
Just a couple of comments:
- I discovered Rosemary Sutcliff’s books when I was at teachers’ college in the mid seventies. I suspect now that many teenagers would prefer a “McDonald’s” kind of story to the literary banquet she always produced in her novels . . . and, the college motto was “Inferre Lumina Mundo”, so I’ve always thought of myself as a bit of a lantern bearer.
- My wife is a descendant of the Throckmortons. I knew about the gunpowder plot connection, but not about the Sir Walter Raleigh one. I’m going to have to get a copy of “Lady in Waiting” now.
thanks for this: enjoy Lady in Waiting. Interestingly ( at least here in the UK) all manner of teenagers find they enjoy Rosemary’s books. I suspect it is as much a matter of teachers now being too cautious to try using her work, and perhaps people emerging from teacher training not themselves having read and enjoyed her work?
I am having a hard time locating a copy of A Saxon Settler (1965). Can anyone tell me about it?
“Saxon Settler” was part of a children’s history series published by the Oxford University Press called “People of the Past”. It’s very hard to find copies and is priced accordingly, though I did spot a p/b edition at Amazon UK for £12.95 (which is still pretty expensive for a smallish p/b).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0198345569/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&qid=1333562081&sr=1-1&condition=used
Your best bet might be to ask your local library to get a copy for you through the interlibrary loan service.
Just a suggestion, but if you haven’t read it, RS’s story “Dawn Wind” has a lot of detail about life for Saxon settlers and might be worth a look.
Also “The Shield Ring”
Hi Anjy :) Although there are some Anglo-Saxon refugees like Frytha, mostly the settlers in “Shield Ring” are Anglo-Scandinavian rather than Anglo-Saxon, though the ways they lived were in many ways similar. According to local legend, Buttermere was originally “Buthar’s mere”, the holding of Jarl Buthar, a Norse chieftain who settled peacefully in Cumbria during the 10th/11th centuries as did many other Norsemen.
“Shield Ring”, although Sutcliff’s own inimitable take on the story, was closely modelled on a fictionalised history of Jarl Buthar and Norse-era Buttermere called “The Secret Valley”, written by Lakeland historian Nicholas Size.