Book Series Guide

W. Somerset Maugham

Author guide

W. Somerset Maugham Books in Order

William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was an English writer and physician whose major work includes novels, short-story collections, plays, travel books, memoirs, literary criticism, and essays. His best-known books include Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Sixpence, The Painted Veil, Cakes and Ale, and The Razor's Edge. He also wrote the linked espionage stories collected as Ashenden and more than thirty plays, several of which were major West End successes.

novelsshort storiesplaysessaysliterary criticismtravel writingmemoir

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Start with one of these

Cover of Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage

The central autobiographical novel and one of Maugham's most acclaimed works.

Cover of The Razor's Edge

The Razor's Edge

A concise, late-career philosophical novel and accessible entry point.

Cover of Ashenden: Or the British Agent

Ashenden: Or the British Agent

The definitive linked collection for Maugham's espionage fiction and short-story craft.

Read in order

Books by series

story-cycle · complete

Ashenden

A linked cycle of espionage stories featuring Ashenden, a British agent during the First World War.

Series guide →
  1. 1 Cover of Ashenden: Or the British Agent
    Ashenden: Or the British Agent

    Book 1 · short-story-collection · 1928

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Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (21)
  1. Cover of Liza of Lambeth
    Liza of Lambeth

    novel · 1897

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  2. The Making of a Saint

    novel · 1898

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  3. The Hero

    novel · 1901

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  4. Cover of Mrs Craddock
    Mrs Craddock

    novel · 1902

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  5. Cover of The Merry-Go-Round
    The Merry-Go-Round

    novel · 1904

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  6. The Bishop's Apron

    novel · 1906

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  7. The Explorer

    novel · 1908

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  8. Cover of The Magician
    The Magician

    novel · 1908

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  9. Cover of Of Human Bondage
    Of Human Bondage

    novel · 1915

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  10. The Moon and Sixpence

    novel · 1919

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  11. Cover of The Painted Veil
    The Painted Veil

    novel · 1925

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  12. Cover of Cakes and Ale: Or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard
    Cakes and Ale: Or, the Skeleton in the Cupboard

    novel · 1930

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  13. Cover of The Narrow Corner
    The Narrow Corner

    novel · 1932

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  14. Theatre

    novel · 1937

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  15. Cover of Christmas Holiday
    Christmas Holiday

    novel · 1939

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  16. Cover of Up at the Villa
    Up at the Villa

    novel · 1941

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  17. Cover of The Hour Before the Dawn
    The Hour Before the Dawn

    novel · 1942

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  18. Cover of The Razor's Edge
    The Razor's Edge

    novel · 1944

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  19. Then and Now

    novel · 1946

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  20. Cover of Catalina
    Catalina

    novel · 1948

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  21. Purely for My Pleasure

    nonfiction · 1962

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Nonfiction (9)
  1. The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia

    travel · 1905

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  2. Cover of On a Chinese Screen
    On a Chinese Screen

    travel · 1922

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  3. Cover of The Gentleman in the Parlour: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong
    The Gentleman in the Parlour: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong

    travel · 1930

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  4. Don Fernando

    travel · 1935

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  5. My South Sea Island

    travel · 1936

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  6. Cover of The Summing Up
    The Summing Up

    memoir · 1938

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  7. Strictly Personal

    memoir · 1941

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  8. Great Novelists and Their Novels

    literary-criticism · 1948

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  9. Cover of A Writer's Notebook
    A Writer's Notebook

    memoir · 1949

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Short fiction (15)
  1. Orientations

    short-story-collection · 1899

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  2. The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands

    short-story-collection · 1921

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  3. Cover of The Casuarina Tree: Six Stories
    The Casuarina Tree: Six Stories

    short-story-collection · 1926

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  4. Six Stories Written in the First Person Singular

    short-story-collection · 1931

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  5. The Book Bag

    short-story-collection · 1932

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  6. Ah King

    short-story-collection · 1933

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  7. The Judgement Seat

    short-story-collection · 1934

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  8. Cover of Cosmopolitans
    Cosmopolitans

    short-story-collection · 1936

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  9. Cover of Princess September and the Nightingale
    Princess September and the Nightingale

    short-story-collection · 1939

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  10. Cover of The Mixture as Before
    The Mixture as Before

    short-story-collection · 1940

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  11. The Unconquered

    short-story-collection · 1944

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  12. Creatures of Circumstance

    short-story-collection · 1947

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  13. Quartet

    short-story-collection · 1948

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  14. Trio

    short-story-collection · 1950

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  15. Encore

    short-story-collection · 1951

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Essays and speeches (5)
  1. Cover of Books and You
    Books and You

    essays · 1940

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  2. Of Human Bondage, with a Digression on the Art of Fiction

    address · 1946

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  3. The Writer's Point of View

    essays · 1951

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  4. Cover of The Vagrant Mood
    The Vagrant Mood

    essays · 1952

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  5. Cover of Points of View
    Points of View

    essays · 1958

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Plays (25)
  1. A Man of Honour

    play · 1903

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  2. Lady Frederick

    play · 1912

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  3. Jack Straw

    play · 1912

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  4. Cover of Mrs Dot
    Mrs Dot

    play · 1912

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  5. Penelope

    play · 1912

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  6. The Explorer

    play · 1912

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  7. The Tenth Man

    play · 1913

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  8. Landed Gentry

    play · 1913

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  9. Smith

    play · 1913

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  10. The Land of Promise

    play · 1913

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  11. The Unknown

    play · 1920

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  12. The Circle

    play · 1921

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  13. Cover of Caesar's Wife
    Caesar's Wife

    play · 1922

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  14. East of Suez

    play · 1922

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  15. Our Betters

    play · 1923

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  16. Home and Beauty

    play · 1923

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  17. The Unattainable

    play · 1923

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  18. Loaves and Fishes

    play · 1924

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  19. Cover of The Constant Wife
    The Constant Wife

    play · 1927

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  20. Cover of The Letter
    The Letter

    play · 1927

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  21. The Sacred Flame

    play · 1928

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  22. The Bread-Winner

    play · 1930

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  23. For Services Rendered

    play · 1932

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  24. Sheppey

    play · 1933

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  25. The Noble Spaniard

    play · 1953

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Posthumous collections (1)
  1. Seventeen Lost Stories

    posthumous-short-story-collection · 1969

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Other (1)
  1. France at War

    current-affairs · 1940

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