Thomas B. Costain Books in Order (Updated September 8, 2026)

Thomas B. Costain was a Canadian-born journalist, editor, historian, and bestselling historical novelist who began publishing novels comparatively late in life. He is remembered for works such as The Black Rose, The Silver Chalice, The Tontine, and his four-volume history of the Plantagenet dynasty.

Most of Costain’s novels are standalone historical stories, so they do not require a strict reading order. His major exception is the four-volume Plantagenet history, which should be read in sequence because each book continues the narrative of the English royal dynasty across successive reigns.

Choosing Your First Thomas B. Costain Book

• Best general starting point: The Black Rose.
• Best biblical-era historical novel: The Silver Chalice.
• Best dynastic history starting point: The Conquering Family.
• Main series: four-volume Plantagenet history.
• Most novels: standalone.
• Best complete fiction order: publication order.

Readers who prefer fiction can begin almost anywhere among the major novels. Readers interested in medieval English history should start with The Conquering Family and continue through all four Plantagenet volumes.

Thomas B. Costain Novels in Publication Order

Costain’s principal novels are independent historical narratives set in different centuries and countries. Publication order is useful for following his development as a novelist, but it is not required for continuity.

1. For My Great Folly (1942)
2. Ride With Me (1944)
3. The Black Rose (1945)
4. The Moneyman (1947)
5. High Towers (1949)
6. Son of a Hundred Kings (1950)
7. The Silver Chalice (1952)
8. The Tontine (1955)
9. Below the Salt (1957)
10. The Darkness and the Dawn (1959)
11. The Last Love (1963)

Some modern catalogues show later publication dates for these titles because they are using the date of a reissue rather than the original edition. The Moneyman, for example, is a 1947 novel, not a twenty-first century release.

Are Thomas B. Costain’s Novels Connected?

No. Costain’s principal novels do not form one fictional universe. The Black Rose, The Silver Chalice, The Tontine, and Below the Salt have separate protagonists and take place in different historical settings.

This means readers can safely choose according to historical period. Starting with The Silver Chalice does not spoil The Black Rose, and The Tontine does not require knowledge of Son of a Hundred Kings.

Publication order matters mainly for completists who want to experience Costain’s career in the same sequence in which his original readers did.

The Plantagenets Books in Order

Costain’s four-volume Plantagenet history is his clearest nonfiction series. The books follow the English royal dynasty over several centuries and are best read from beginning to end.

1. The Conquering Family (1949)
2. The Magnificent Century (1951)
3. The Three Edwards (1958)
4. The Last Plantagenets (1962)

This is both publication order and the recommended historical order. Each volume advances the dynastic story into later generations, so there is no benefit to rearranging the sequence.

What Period Does Each Plantagenet Volume Cover?

The Conquering Family

The first volume begins with the Norman Conquest and establishes the royal background from which the later Plantagenet dynasty emerged. It provides the necessary foundation for the family, succession conflicts, and political institutions developed in the later books.

The Magnificent Century

The second volume concentrates on the thirteenth century, including the reigns and political struggles associated with Henry III and the rise of Edward I.

The Three Edwards

The third volume follows Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, carrying the history into major conflicts involving Scotland, dynastic succession, and the Hundred Years War.

The Last Plantagenets

The final volume moves through the later Plantagenet kings and toward the dynastic struggles that culminated in the Wars of the Roses and the rise of the Tudors.

Because the political consequences of one reign lead directly into the next, this is a series where order genuinely matters.

The Conquerors and The Conquering Family

The first Plantagenet volume can create confusion because some editions use the title The Conquerors: The Pageant of England, while later editions are commonly known as The Conquering Family.

These should not be treated as two separate books in the reading order. They represent the same first volume of Costain’s historical sequence under different publication packaging.

For My Great Folly and the Stepchildren of History Idea

For My Great Folly was Costain’s first published novel and began from a larger concept he called the “Stepchildren of History.” He intended to write about lesser-known historical figures whose lives could support large adventure narratives.

The novel focuses on the seventeenth-century pirate and privateer John Ward. Although Costain originally imagined a broader sequence of books around overlooked historical personalities, the later novels did not develop into one strict series with recurring protagonists.

For reading-order purposes, For My Great Folly remains a standalone historical novel.

The Black Rose Reading Order

The Black Rose, published in 1945, is one of Costain’s most famous novels. It is set in the medieval period and follows Walter of Gurnie on a journey that eventually takes him eastward into the world of the Mongol Empire.

It is completely standalone. No earlier Costain novel is required, and there is no Costain-written sequel that continues Walter’s story.

• Prequel: none.
• Sequel: none.
• Series status: standalone.
• Best use: strong first Costain novel.

The Moneyman Comes Before High Towers

The Moneyman was published in 1947. Some modern lists incorrectly place it much later because of recent reissue dates, so it is important to keep the original publication year in mind.

High Towers followed in 1949. The two books are not sequels, and their order matters only for a complete publication-order read.

High Towers is associated with French colonial North America and the Le Moyne family, while The Moneyman is a separate historical story.

Son of a Hundred Kings as a Standalone

Son of a Hundred Kings, published in 1950, differs from several of Costain’s medieval and ancient historical novels because it is set much closer to the author’s own era.

The novel stands on its own and does not belong to the Plantagenet history, the Canadian history books, or another fictional sequence.

The Silver Chalice Reading Order

The Silver Chalice, published in 1952, is another major standalone. It is set in the early Christian world and follows Basil, a young artisan whose life becomes connected with a sacred object associated with the Last Supper.

No other Costain novel needs to be read before it. The book is Separate continuity from The Black Rose and from Costain’s later The Darkness and the Dawn.

Is The Tontine One Book or Two?

The Tontine was published in 1955 as one very long novel. Some editions divide it into Volume I and Volume II for physical convenience.

Those two-volume editions should not be counted as separate novels. They are parts of the same work.

• Original work: The Tontine.
• Volume I and Volume II editions: parts of the same novel.
• Series status: standalone.

Modern catalogues sometimes list the two volumes separately, which can make Costain appear to have written more novels than he actually did.

Below the Salt and The Darkness and the Dawn

Below the Salt appeared in 1957 and is a standalone historical novel involving medieval England and a modern framing device. It does not belong to the Plantagenet nonfiction series even though it draws on a medieval historical setting.

The Darkness and the Dawn, published in 1959, moves to the world of Attila the Hun. It is likewise independent.

Readers can choose either book according to period without losing continuity.

The Last Love Is Costain’s Final Novel

The Last Love, published in 1963, was Costain’s final novel. It focuses on Napoleon’s later years and his relationship with Albine de Montholon during exile on Saint Helena.

The title is a standalone historical novel, not a sequel to Ride With Me even though both involve the Napoleonic era.

Thomas B. Costain Canadian History Books

Costain also contributed to a multi-volume narrative history of Canada. His own principal contribution is The White and the Gold, which examines the French regime in Canada.

Other volumes associated with the broader Canadian history project include titles by different writers. Readers should not assume that every volume in the set was written by Costain alone.

For a Costain-only bibliography, The White and the Gold should be treated as a standalone nonfiction history rather than as another fictional series.

Other Thomas B. Costain Nonfiction in Order

Outside the Plantagenet sequence, Costain wrote or co-wrote several nonfiction works on history, biography, and technology.

1. The Conquering Family (1949)
2. The Magnificent Century (1951)
3. The White and the Gold (1954)
4. The Three Edwards (1958)
5. William the Conqueror (1959)
6. The Chord of Steel: The Story of the Invention of the Telephone (1960)
7. The Last Plantagenets (1962)

William the Conqueror is a shorter historical work and should not be confused with the first Plantagenet volume. The Chord of Steel concerns the invention of the telephone and belongs to a completely different subject area.

Joshua and the Rogers MacVeagh Collaboration

Joshua: Leader of a United People appeared in 1943 and was written with Rogers MacVeagh. It is a historical-biographical treatment rather than one of Costain’s principal fictional novels.

It should therefore be kept outside the standalone novel list. Readers interested in Costain’s historical interpretations can approach it independently.

Stories to Remember Collections

Costain also worked with editor John Beecroft on large anthologies that selected memorable short stories, novellas, and excerpts by many writers.

1. Stories to Remember (1956)
2. More Stories to Remember (1958)
3. Thirty Stories (1961)
4. Come Read with Me (1965)

These are anthologies and editorial projects, not Costain novel series. They should be listed separately from his original fiction.

Pat Hand Mystery Stories

Costain published several short mystery stories under the pseudonym Pat Hand in the 1940s. These stories are a small but interesting part of his bibliography and are separate from the historical novels.

1. The Showdown (1944)
2. The Imponderables (1944)
3. The Alibi (1944)
4. The Ace of Spades (1945)

Several of these stories feature the gambler Careful Jones. They form a recurring short-fiction group but do not connect to Costain’s historical novels.

Should Costain Be Read Chronologically by Historical Period?

There is little benefit in arranging Costain’s novels according to the centuries in which they are set. The protagonists are unrelated, and no shared fictional chronology connects the ancient world, medieval Europe, colonial North America, the Napoleonic period, and more modern settings.

Publication order is more useful for a complete fiction read. Historical chronology is best reserved for the Plantagenet nonfiction sequence, where the books already follow successive periods naturally.

A Strong Thomas B. Costain Reading Route

Readers who want a representative sample before tackling every novel can use the following order:

1. The Black Rose
2. The Silver Chalice
3. The Tontine
4. For My Great Folly
5. Son of a Hundred Kings
6. Below the Salt
7. The Darkness and the Dawn
8. The Conquering Family
9. The Magnificent Century
10. The Three Edwards
11. The Last Plantagenets

This route begins with Costain’s best-known fiction, then samples different eras before moving through his major historical series.

Modern Editions and Misleading Publication Dates

Costain’s books are frequently reissued in ebook and print-on-demand editions. Some databases sort these recent editions as though they were new original titles.

This is especially misleading with books such as The Moneyman, The Black Rose, and the Plantagenet histories. A 2012 or 2022 edition date does not move the work to the end of Costain’s bibliography.

Always use the original publication year when building a reading order.

Latest Thomas B. Costain Release Status

Thomas B. Costain died in 1965. His original novel bibliography is complete, with The Last Love from 1963 serving as his final novel.

Later editions, ebook releases, anthologies, and two-volume versions of works such as The Tontine do not represent new Costain-written novels.

Thomas B. Costain Books in Order FAQs

Do Thomas B. Costain’s novels need to be read in order?

No. Most of his novels are standalone historical stories. Publication order is useful for completists but not required for continuity.

What is the first Plantagenet book?

The Conquering Family is the first volume in Costain’s four-book Plantagenet history.

What order should the Plantagenet books be read in?

Read The Conquering Family, The Magnificent Century, The Three Edwards, and The Last Plantagenets in that order.

Is The Tontine a two-book series?

No. Some editions divide the long novel into two physical volumes, but it is one work.

Is The Black Rose part of a series?

No. The Black Rose is a standalone historical novel.

Is The Silver Chalice connected to The Black Rose?

No. They are separate novels set in different historical periods with different characters.

When was The Moneyman originally published?

The Moneyman was originally published in 1947. Recent edition dates should not be mistaken for the date of the novel’s first release.

What was Thomas B. Costain’s final novel?

The Last Love, published in 1963, was his final novel.

What Thomas B. Costain book should I start with?

The Black Rose is the safest general starting point for fiction. Readers interested primarily in English royal history should begin with The Conquering Family.

The Best Way to Read Thomas B. Costain

Thomas B. Costain’s fiction does not require one strict sequence. Begin with whichever historical period interests you most, with The Black Rose remaining the strongest general introduction and The Silver Chalice, The Tontine, and Below the Salt providing useful alternatives.

The four Plantagenet histories are different. Read them in order from The Conquering Family through The Last Plantagenets, because the dynastic history advances from one volume to the next. Keep anthologies, collaborations, Pat Hand stories, and later reissues outside the main novel sequence.