M*A*S*H Books In Order

Publication Order of M*A*S*H Books

The M*A*S*H series is a famous book series written by a popular American novelist named William E. Butterworth. This series consists of historical fiction, humor, war, classics, and fiction novels. Author Butterworth wrote a total of 15 books in this series, which were released between the years 1968 and 1977. The novels are actually adapted from the popular TV series of the 1970s having the same name. Prior to the success of the TV series, a film was made in 1970 under the title of M*A*S*H. This film sets the tone for the television series. And the film would not have been made had it not been for the 1968 book by Richard Hooker called M*A*S*H : A Novel ABout Three Army Doctors. As this book was not able to gather the number of audience that author Hooker had hoped for, he did not proceed further. But, as soon as the TV show became a worldwide success, Butterworth took over the book series and started writing the other books. This series can be divided into 2 segments. One is the original M*A*S*H series written by Hooker, which consists of 3 novels, and the second segment contains the remaining books by Butterworth. The original M*A*S*H book was written in collaboration by Richard Hornberger and WC Hein. They took the pseudonym of Richard Hooker to publish the book in 1968. Hornberger was an ex-military surgeon, while Hein was a correspondent in the Second World War. Therefore, they were easily able to set the story around the setting of war. In the original story, the authors have described the tale of a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital of the US in Korea at the time of the Korean War. In the next couple of books, Hornberger has covered the story of the surgeons following their return home from war. Then the TV show happened and Hornberger did not write any further novels. Inspired by the television show, author Butterworth thought he could contribute to this series. So, he began his own M*A*S*H series. In his novels, Butterworth has shown M*A*S*H going to different places. Even though Butterworth wrote these novels all alone, the credits were given to both Butterworth and Hooker. In the books written by him, Butterworth added many other secondary characters, most of which were satirical caricatures of the public figures from the 70s. Butterworth’s tone of describing the stories is quite different from that of Hooker’s. His tone seems to be much less darkly satirical, unrealistic, and more comical in a broad way. After Butterworth finished writing his final novel in the series, a final book of author Hooker was released that picked up from where he had left his last novel. This new novel of Hooker ignored the inconsistencies and events depicted in Butterworth’s novels and showed the original characters in their middle ages. Both the authors received their fair share of success from the series. Even though each had a different style of writing the same series, the readers liked both of them and enjoyed the different writing styles. All the books went on to become great successes and sold hundreds and thousands of printed copies worldwide. The sale of the books was complemented by the successfully running M*A*S*H TV show at that time.

An interesting book of the M*A*S*H series is entitled ‘M*A*S*H Goes to Maine’. This book was released by the Sphere publication in the year 1973. Author Hooker has mentioned the lead characters in this book as Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce, John McIntyre, Augustus Forrest, Oliver Jones, etc. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Hawkeye Pierce comes back from his national duty in Korea to reside in Crabapple Cove, Maine. After leaving the Army, Pierce begins working for the Veterans Administration, but leaves that too in 1954. When he turns 31, Pierce does not have much money in his bank, no job, and 3 children to take care of. On the he is about to get discharged, Trapper McIntyre comes to meet him and tells him that he is about to change his future. Pierce is arranged for thoracic training and in two years he breezes through the boards of the thoracic department. After the completion of his training, he is made to carry out an operation to see if he can pull it off. And to his own surprise, he completes the operation successfully and becomes a local surgeon. With the passage of time, Pierce starts getting more patients. Later, he begins his own private practice along with Tony Holcombe. Pierce thinks of reunion of Swamp Gang. He succeeds in luring Trapper McIntyre, Spearchucker Jones, and Duke Forrest and sets up his clinic with his friends. After achieving what they were missing so badly from their lives, the team continues to practice together and move ahead in their personal lives.

Another mind blowing book of this series is called ‘M*A*S*H Goes to Paris’. It was published by Pocket Books in 1975. The central characters of this novel include Mr. Jean Pierre Chevaux, Henry Blake, Hawkeye Pierce, Boris, John McIntyre, etc. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that the government of France announces to give medals to numerous people with the intention of offsetting that the United States government has begun asking for the payback of the debts of the First World War. The plans seem to be working quite for the French until the come across the name of Jean-Pierre Chevaux. After the initial background research, Henry Blake is summoned by the State Secretary. Blake is informed that they require his help for keeping Jean Chevaux sober until the medal ceremony gets over. Now, the only 2 people who can keep Chevaux sober for the said period of time are John McIntyre and Hawkeye Pierce. Both of them have previously worked under the leadership of Henry Blake in Korea. This is the reason why Blake is chosen to acquire the service of the men. Immediately after McIntyre & Pierce get the information about the new task, they leave the Maine clinic and head to Paris. They also take in Hot Lips and Radar on the way. After reaching Paris, the team falls into a lot of trouble and struggles to come out of the difficult situations. They establish certain contacts in the foreign lands and help make things work in their favor. This book was also praised by money for its interesting storyline and intriguing characters.