The New Cut Gang Books In Order

Publication Order of New Cut Gang Books

The New Cut Gang is a popular series of young adult, children’s fiction, and mystery books. It is written by a highly renowned English author named Philip Pullman. The series, which began in 1994, consists of just 2 novels published in 1994 and 1995. Both the books have been extremely successful. They have found success in various parts of the world and have been translated into many foreign languages over the years. The books depict a small group of children ranging from 6-year olds to 13-year olds. The call themselves as New Cut Gang and live on the streets of New Cut and Lambeth Walk. Author Pullman has done the setting of the books in these two places at the time of the year 1892. He has shown that during this time period, the Lambeth Walk & New Cut were full of bookies, swindlers, gangsters, horse thieves, occasional tentative policemen, pickpockets, etc., and has set the stories revolving around such characters. In the young urchins’ group, there is a six year old boy named Sharkey Bob and a 13 year old girl named Birdie Malone. These two characters are joined by numerous other exciting characters in carrying the series forward.

Author Philip Pullman is a famous novelist from the United Kingdom. Many of his books have been bestsellers and have featured in a number of literary magazines as topsellers. Pullman’s writing style mainly consists of the fantasy, young adult, and fiction stories. His success in the writing field has helped him to earn a CBE and an FRSL. In 2008, Philip Pullman was named among the top 50 greatest writers of the UK since 1945 in a list prepared by The Times. Also, in a BBC poll in 2004, he was ranked 11th in the line of the most influential people in the British Culture. Author Pullman is particularly famous for writing the fantasy trilogy series called His Dark Materials. He is also quite popular for writing Jesus’ fictionalized biography, The Good Man Jesus & the Scoundrel Christ. Pullman’s book, Northern Lights, which is the first one to feature in the His Dark Materials series, went on to win the Carnegie Medal in 1995.

This award was given to Pullman by Library Association. This book was recognized as the most outstanding children’s book of English language of the year. On the occasion of the Medal’s 70th anniversary, Northern Lights was included by a panel in 2007 among the top 10 winning works, and based on a public vote system, it emerged victorious and was labeled as the Carnegie of the Carnegies. This book was later adapted into a Hollywood film in the US called The Golden Compass. Author Pullman was born on October 19, 1946, in Norwich, Norfolk, England. His father, Alfred Outram Pullman, was an Air Force pilot and worked for the RAF, while his mother, Audrey Pullman, was a housewife. Because of the job of Philip Pullman’s father, his family had to travel frequently. As a result, Pullman had to spend most of his earlier years in Llanbedr. When he was 7 years old, his father met with a plane-crash accident and died. In a 2008 program, author Pullman said that he always sees his father as his hero and is proud that he died while defending the country. Following the death of his father, Pullman’s mother remarried and moved along with him to Australia. It was during his stay in Australia that Pullman discovered his interest in comic books, including Batman and Superman. Author Pullman studied at Eaton House and Tavernham during his initial years.

In 1957, he joined Ysgol Ardudwy. He also stayed with his grandfather in Norfolk. It was his grandfather, who introduced him to Paradise Lose by John Milton. This book turned out to be a great influence on Pullman’s story-developing skills. From 1965 to 1968, author Pullman attended the Exeter College in Oxford and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Third Grade. Shortly after, he met Judith Speller and married her in 1970. At around the same time, Pullman took up the job teaching by joining the Bishop Kirk School. Pullmas also got the chance to teach at the Westminster College for a brief period. Amidst all this, he had started writing stories and was looking to find a publisher for the publishing of his first few stories. And as time passed by, he was able to publish several of his books in continuation. Finally, he decided to give up teaching and focus on his writing on a full time basis. And the rest that followed became history.

The debut book of the New Cut Gang book series written by author Philip Pullman is entitled ‘Thunderbolt’s Waxwork’. This book was released by the Puffin Books in 1996. At the start of the book’s story, the readers are introduced to the mischievous group of children, who wish to become detectives. They start their own detective work by taking up random cases and investigating about them on their own. The first case that they take up is that of tracking down the culprit behind the counterfeit coins exchanged throughout Lambeth. And when the father of a kid referred to as Thunderbolt is arrested as the prime culprit, the children seem that he is not the one involved in making the fake coins. So, they try to think of ways to prove the innocence of Thunderbolt’s father and get him released from imprisonment. The characters of the book were loved by the readers very much, especially the kids, Benny, Sam, Sharky Bob, Zerlina, Angela, Birdie Monroe, etc.

The next book in line in this series is entitled ‘The Gas Fitter’s Ball’. It was also published by the Puffin publishers in the year 1998. Once again, author Pullman has depicted an interesting story featuring the same lead characters and set in Lambeth Walk in 1892. The children are described as taking up another case of investigation. This time, their trail of counterfeit sovereigns of gold leads them to a murderous owner, who pursues them in order to silence them forever. At the beginning of the story of the book, the writer has described that the gang of small children learns about a burglar, who steals the silver trophies of the Gas Fitter. As the police gets involved in the investigation, the children do not get the opportunity to have a glance of the crime scene. But, they do not lose hope. They find another way of collecting evidence and hunting down the burglar before the police. This novel was also liked by the audience a lot and received excellent reviews from one and all. Pullman was successful in selling a large number of copies all around the world.