John Masters Books In Order

Publication Order of Loss of Eden Books

Publication Order of Masters Autobiography Trilogy Books

Publication Order of The Savage Family Chronicles Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

John Masters was a noteworthy British author and army officer, who used to serve in the Indian Army during the pre-independence era of India and later became a novelist. The novels written by Masters are well known for the treatment of British Empire while ruling India. Author Masters was born to a regular soldier serving in the post of lieutenant colonel. His family had a vast tradition of serving in Indian Army. Masters had completed his education from the Royal Military College in Sandhurt and from Wellington. Immediately after his graduation, he had joined the Light Infantry of Cornwall Duke. After serving for one year, he applied to join the 4th Gorkha Rifles of Prince of Wales. Masters served with the regiment’s 2nd battalion on the North West Frontier. He was given a number of appointments inside the regimental depot and the battalion. Author Masters was born on October 26, 1914, in Calcutta, India; and died on May 7, 1983, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, The United States. In 1938, Masters had organized a leopard hunt around the Bakloh depot as a leopard was suspected to be roaming in the nearby areas. He ended up coming across a huge tiger and killed it with his rifle. After this incident, Masters was called as the Saab who killed the Bakloh tiger. The following year, author Masters was appointed as 2nd battalion’s Adjutant. At the time of the 2nd World War, Masters’ battalion was ordered to go to Basra, Iraq to participate in the small Anglo-Iraqi battle. Subsequently, Masters served in Persia, Iraq, and Syria with his battalion. Later, he was seconded to the post of staff officer in Communications Line headquarter. In 1942, Masters visited Quetta to attend the Staff College of Indian Army. There, he met and fell in love with a fellow officer’s wife. His affair had become a scandal at was the talking point of every officer gatherings at that time, even though the two had entered into marriage.

After Masters passed Staff College, he became a brigade major, first joining the 114th Infantry and then the 111th Infantry due to poaching from another officer named Joe Lentaigne. Starting from 1944, Masters’ brigade served in Burma behind the Japanese army. Later in the year, the brigade was given the order of holding a position having the code name as Blackpool, in northern Burma’s Mogaung region. This position was attacked with a heavy force for a period of 17 days continuously. Eventually, Masters had to withdraw his brigade. On seeing no hope of recovery for the brutally injured 19 soldiers, Masters was obliged to order the shooting of all the men by the medical orderlies. Later in his life, Masters mentioned his incident in his autobiography’s second volume. After some time, author Masters became the commander of 3rd battalion and subsequently became the Chief of the 19th Infantry Division of India. This infantry was mainly involved in the remainder of the campaign in Burma. Masters was awarded with an OBE in 1946 for his service. Following a short spell in Delhi as staff officer, he went on to serve as instructor at the Staff College in Camberley. After the end of this posting, Masters left army and shifted to United States. He tried to set up a business that promoted Himalayan walking tours, which was also one of the hobbies of author Masters. However, the business could not succeed and this forced Masters to start writing about his experiences during his service days. And when the books became successful, Masters decided to write on the full time basis. During the later stages of life, author Masters settled in Santa Fe along with his wife named Barbara. His death occurred in 1983 due to the complication arising from a heart surgery. As requested by Masters, his friends and family members scattered his ashes over a mountain where he liked to go hiking.

A popular novel series written by John Masters is known as The Savage Family Chronicles. This series is comprised of a total of 8 books, which were released between the years 1951 an 1972. All the books of this series take place in India and involve a few generations of a fictional family. Author Masters has covered approximately 320 years from 1627 to the 1950s. The first book of this series is entitled ‘Nightrunners of Bengal’. It was released by the Souvenir Press in the year 2014 after its initial release in 1951. The main characters mentioned in the book include Captain Rodney Savage of the Savage family. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Rodney Savage serves in the 13th Rifles and is stationed in an isolated town called Bhowani. As he celebrates the beginning of 1857 in Bhowani, he comes to know that there is an unrest stirring up in the nearby town Kishanpur state. Captain Rodney is given the order of visiting Kishanpur for protecting the ruler of the state and her son. Soon, the tension takes the form of violence. The situation becomes so much worse that the British are not able to identify who all are loyal and who are not. They witness the full horror as the Indian Mutiny emerges. The critics praised this book by saying that it is one of the greatest novels and combines the storytelling mastery of author Masters with history’s intuitive sense.

Another excellent book written by Masters in the series is called ‘The Lotus and the Wind’. The Ballantine Books published it in 1969 following its first release in 1953. Author Masters as described the story as having taken place in Afghanistan during the time of the year 1879, and has depicted the main character as Robin Savage. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Lieutenant Robin Savage serves in the 2nd Anglo-Afghan war. The Russian and British Empires engage in a great fight that is expected to decide the future of Afghanistan. When Robin Savage gets wrongly accused of being a coward, Lieutenant Savage decides to join the Secret Service with the intention of proving his loyalty. He begins by trying to unravel the Altar’s mystery, which is the word that an Afghan soldier had written in his blood. He even intends to thwart the Tsarist Russia’s ambitions. It seems that Robin Savage’s love for the vacant spaces in the Afghan plains and his courage could keep him safe during the journey that he begins along with a trustworthy Gurkha elder. Savage travels to the farthest frontier of the empire of Britain in India. In this novel, author Masters has captured the strangeness, splendor, and beauty of the British rule at that time.

One Response to “John Masters”

1. Ross Jones: 1 year ago

   I have just finished Bugles & a Tiger for the second time.I have read all Masters Books and thoroughly noted them as I have been to India several times and also in The British Army

   Reply