David Donachie Books in Order

Forced from the Navy, Harry Ludlow turns privateer with his brother James and lands aboard a warship commanded by an old enemy. When James is found over a murdered officer, Harry has to investigate fast.

In Genoa, Harry Ludlow is drawn into the death of a British officer while war and smuggling churn around him. The Mediterranean setting widens the series, but the real danger still comes from human deceit.

Back in England, Harry and James Ludlow become entangled in fresh violence just when they need calm and profit. With the noose never far away, Harry must cut through suspicion before justice becomes vengeance.

When Captain Toner illegally presses half his crew into the Navy, Harry Ludlow chases him to the West Indies. Piracy, colonial corruption, and murder turn a rescue mission into a fight on several fronts.

Irish lieutenant George Markham inherits command of a difficult body of marines and has to prove himself fast. Revolutionary France, shipboard resentment, and his own reputation make the opening test a hard one.

An abandoned Spanish merchantman promises profit, but Harry Ludlow soon finds danger hidden in the prize. As suspicion spreads, he has to sort treachery from bad luck before the whole voyage turns fatal.

Homeward bound at last, Harry Ludlow's ship is thrown into renewed danger after a disastrous Channel clash. A shadowy merchantman, old enemies, and fresh murder turn the long-awaited return into another deadly puzzle.

Boat Troop heads up a Sierra Leone river to secure a vital mine, only to find the mission collapsing around them. Bad terrain, dangerous wildlife, civilians, and political wavering turn the job into a trap.

Weeks after Argentina invades the Falklands, four SAS men from Boat Troop slip onto the islands to gather intelligence. Their small mission runs alongside a far bigger one, led by officers ready to spend lives recklessly.

George Markham and his marines survive Corsica only to be thrown into fresh shipboard fighting and a secret mission ashore. French patrols, dubious allies, and Markham's own past make every step harder.

George Markham keeps trying to clear his name while leading marines through brutal actions against Revolutionary France. Class prejudice, hard combat, and troublesome superiors leave him little room for error.

After a deadly embassy bombing in Southeast Asia, British and American forces prepare a strike against Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. This military thriller follows the mission from planning to execution, with politics and survival tightly entwined.

This trilogy opener follows young Horatio Nelson and Emma Lyon as each claws upward from modest beginnings. Sea service, ambition, and Georgian London move on parallel tracks until their lives begin to converge.

With Europe at war and fame pressing hard on them both, Nelson and Emma are drawn into the public storm of politics, desire, and naval glory. Their partnership becomes powerful, risky, and impossible to keep private.

Nelson's Caribbean years bring frustration, duty, and the sort of enemies that do not always wear uniforms. Meanwhile Emma keeps fighting her own climb through Georgian society, and the distance between them starts to narrow.

Back at sea with the Pelicans, Pearce wants only to save his father from revolutionary Paris. Instead he faces privateers, divided loyalties, and the crushing cost of leaving ship and friends behind.

Press-ganged off a London street in 1793, John Pearce is thrown aboard HMS Brilliant with a band of unwilling recruits. Brutal discipline forges the Pelicans, and Pearce learns he may be built for the life he hates.

Separated from his Pelicans, John Pearce chases the fleet to the Mediterranean and lands aboard the Victory. Naval hierarchy, Toulon politics, and Horatio Nelson's growing influence make this a perilous assignment.

As Rome strains under slavery, ambition, and violence, powerful men try to hold the republic together without giving ground. Senatorial politics and military action feed each other in a story built on unstable power.

Returning from Corsica, John Pearce is sent to escort thousands of radical French sailors across a war-torn coast. The mission soon slides toward chaos, and old enemies are waiting to profit from it.

Now with a command of his own, John Pearce must navigate not just enemy action but the vanity and scheming of senior officers. Success at sea means little if admirals ashore decide to crush him.

John Pearce's luck turns again as danger gathers from sea, shore, and his own past. Smugglers, rivals, and naval politics leave him fighting for room to maneuver before events spin out of control.

On the Norman-French border, the sons of Tancred de Hauteville are trained for war and denied a place in it. Forced to hire out their swords, they begin the hard rise that will change southern Italy.

In 11th-century Italy, revolt against Byzantine rule pulls the de Hauteville brothers into a bigger struggle. Their military skill makes them valuable allies, but politics and betrayal may decide more than courage.

Storms, politics, and human treachery keep shoving John Pearce away from any simple plan. To protect his men and his future, he must improvise fast in waters where bad luck is never the only danger.

The de Hauteville brothers press deeper into southern Italy, where ambition, loyalty, and betrayal shape every victory. Their rise toward lasting power is thrilling, but each conquest leaves fresh enemies behind.

Cal Jardine reaches Barcelona just as Spain slips into civil war. What begins as a sporting mission turns into street fighting, improvised soldiering, and a personal hunt for revenge after treachery hits close.

In 1935, soldier of fortune Cal Jardine is recruited to smuggle arms to Abyssinia before Italy strikes. From Nazi-shadowed Europe to the Horn of Africa, he faces betrayal, pursuit, and a brutal landscape.

With Lucius Falerius dead, Rome's future rests on younger hands and fragile promises. War on the frontier and unfinished business in Sicily force allies and enemies alike to decide what the republic is worth.

Rome's victories come at a cost, and old feuds are far from settled. As power shifts between senators, soldiers, and rebels, vengeance drives men forward even when it threatens the republic they claim to serve.

In 1938 Europe, Cal Jardine is pulled from gun-running in France into secret work over Czechoslovakia. Fascists, divided loyalties, and British hesitation turn the approach to war into a deadly maze.

After the Glorious First of June, John Pearce juggles urgent orders, personal entanglements, and enemies who will not let him rest. Trouble follows him from the Channel toward the Mediterranean, ashore and afloat alike.

Caught between smugglers, pursuers, and the loss of his Pelicans, John Pearce races from Kent to London looking for a way back into the fight. Rescue, revenge, and profit all depend on staying one step ahead.

Bohemund and Tancred head east with the First Crusade, where every alliance comes with a price. Marches, sieges, and Byzantine politics test the de Hautevilles as hard as any battle with the Turks.

As Norman power grows in 11th-century Italy, Bohemund comes of age under the towering shadow of Robert Guiscard. Family rivalry, papal politics, and the first pull of crusade make inheritance a dangerous business.

In the Mediterranean, John Pearce faces divided loyalties at every level, from admirals above him to friends he cannot fully protect. Command brings status, but it also forces him to make choices that hurt.

Bohemund's gamble in the East brings him power, but holding it is harder than taking it. With Antioch and the wider crusade in turmoil, ambition, faith, and family loyalty pull the Norman leader in different directions.

The war to restore imperial greatness grows bloodier, and private grievances refuse to stay private. Between court politics, battlefield pressure, and questions of loyalty, honour becomes both a duty and a burden.

With his ship damaged and enemies closing in, John Pearce has trouble enough at sea. Ralph Barclay's arrival in the Mediterranean makes matters worse, turning an already risky cruise into a struggle for survival and advantage.

In sixth-century Byzantium, old loyalties and fresh betrayals set a dangerous path in motion. As imperial ambition spreads west, vengeance becomes personal, and one family's struggle is swept into the wider fight for the Roman world.

Belisarius marches into Italy as Justinian's dream of restoring Rome reaches its most dangerous stage. Victory, siege warfare, and court corruption collide in a brutal finale where survival can matter more than glory.

Pearce sails into hostile waters where the shoreline is as dangerous as any enemy frigate. Smugglers, spies, and old grudges crowd the voyage, and the margin between a clever success and disaster keeps shrinking.

Heading for Naples after a dubious prize sale, John Pearce hopes to outwit both Admiral Hotham and Ralph Barclay. News that Emily is pregnant raises the stakes, turning personal joy into a fresh legal and political trap.

John Pearce is sent on another hazardous mission where official orders and private loyalties pull in different directions. Between political intrigue, enemies ashore, and danger at sea, one mistake could ruin everyone tied to him.

Paid off from his frigate and ready to marry Betsey Langridge, Edward Brazier comes to Deal expecting happiness. Instead he walks into smuggling, family hostility, and an old injustice that reaches far closer to home than he expects.

Stranded in French territory, John Pearce must get back to England while Catherine Carruthers's murder still casts a shadow. Home offers no safety, only fresh orders, fresh danger, and hard choices.

Edward Brazier finds Betsey trapped in an illegal marriage and virtually imprisoned by her violent brother. To free her, he must make common cause with Deal's smugglers and survive a town where everyone has something to hide.

Forced to sea by his ambitious family, Charles Wormwood is brave only by accident. This darkly funny opener follows the vain young aristocrat as luck, cowardice, and social influence keep carrying him upward in Nelson's navy.

Wormwood keeps stumbling upward, and sudden authority leaves him more exposed than ever. With real fighting, real responsibility, and no shortage of schemers around him, he has to bluff his way through command before panic gives him away.

Wounded and missing, Edward Brazier can barely fight for himself, let alone for Betsey, who faces confinement at her brother's hands. As long-buried truths surface in Deal, the town's smuggling world starts to crack.

After capturing a French corvette, Charles Wormwood finds himself commanding HMS Petra and probing Corsican loyalties. His mission tangles him with local politics, the Buonaparte family, and romantic trouble he is far too vain to avoid.

Fresh from being mistaken for a hero, Charles Wormwood finds that reputation can be more dangerous than battle. Forced deeper into naval service he neither wants nor understands, he relies on charm, lies, and luck to stay alive.

John Pearce takes command of HMS Hazard with a raw crew, four new midshipmen, and a mission to warn Admiral Jervis. A tempting Spanish silver ship could make him rich, but chasing it may wreck both duty and ship.

After taking a Spanish treasure ship, John Pearce must warn Admiral Jervis about Spanish duplicity and then face rebellion in Corsica. Politics, gunnery, and night fighting keep HMS Hazard under relentless pressure.

In July 1940, fugitive Billy Houston steals Britain's invasion plans just as armistice talk with Hitler gathers pace. MI5 officer Adam Strachan races across blackout Britain to stop the papers reaching the enemy.

Facing court-martial and serving under Horatio Nelson, John Pearce has enough trouble before lost prize money and renewed enemies complicate matters further. A mission involving Corsican fugitives forces him into one more dangerous gamble.

Set in wartime Europe, this novel follows Elisabeth von Trecheim in Silesia and British captive Gideon Rokesby as survival, duty, and forbidden feeling grow harder to separate. The wider war keeps closing in.