Francis Clifford Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Francis Clifford Omnibus Books

Francis Clifford was a published British author known for writing novels in the crime and thriller genres. His novel Act of Mercy was adapted into a 1962 film called Guns of Darkness. His novel The Naked Runner was adapted into a 1967 movie by the same name.

Francis Clifford was a pen name used by Arthur Leonard Bell Thompson. He was born December 1, 1917, in Bristol, England, and passed away on August 24, 1975.

Before World War II, Francis was employed in the rice trade as a Commerical Assistant. He began in 1935 in London and then went on to work in Burma for 1938 to 1939. When the war arrived, he became commissioned into the Burma Rifles and served in India and then later London as a Special Operations Executive.

Once that was done, it was time to get back to regular civilian life. Francis Clifford found work as a journalist in the steel industry. It was around this time that he started to write fiction when he had some free time. He was so committed to writing that he left his job in 1959 and started writing on a full-time basis.

The author was married two different times. His first marriage was to a woman named Marjorie Bennett in 1944. Once that marriage did not work out. he moved on. In 1955 the author was married to Josephine Devereux. He had two children as the result of his marriage, both sons.

Francis Clifford turned out a wide variety of novels while he was an author. He penned eighteen novels using his pen name Francis Clifford from the late fifties until he passed away. Many of his early books had a setting in Southeast Asia and were inspired by his various experiences that he had during World War II.

Honour the Shrine is an early novel written by Francis Clifford. The novel came out in 1953 and is a good example of what you can expect from the author in his earlier novels and see why others have called this a ‘powerful and deeply moving story’.

In this novel, readers meet the main character of Captain John Strachan as he does his best to fight to get hope back in Burma, which is currently occupied at the time by the Japanese.

Intelligence had told them to go in through the river, telling them, that the Japanese are on the top but if you go in from the river the bridge is unguarded. The truth was that the guardhouse was on the riverbank, with a sentry patrolling. If they went in that way, the sentry would be sure to see them and sound the alarm, and then they would not be able to do anything about it.

This was a rehearsed plan that had fallen through, and everything was for nothing. From the approach march to the jump, the weeks of training that the six of them had put in are adding up to nothing in the face of this situation. But there still might be one more chance yet for them.

It’s up to Captain John Strachan to figure things out. He belongs to a small party that include a corporal and six Karens. Their mission is to parachute in and blow up a bridge. Blowing up the bridge is vital to military strategy but instead of that happening, the Captain finds himself stuck in a small village.

It is there that he meets Father Bassett, the local mission priest. He accepts the proposal to help with an operation that must be kept an absolute secret. Captain Strachan wants desperately to get out of the small village. But as things go, he is disturbed by how calm the priest is. In addition, the two men fight over their different views of the war.

Things change suddenly when an attractive nun shows up. With the influence of her arrival, the Captain finally starts to understand the clergy’s perspective of faith and sacrifice. However, he still feels fear and cannot take defeat. However, it is the painstaking news that comes out as part of his journey that may end up haunting him for the rest of his days.

Pick up a copy of Honour the Shrine to catch all of Francis Clifford’s great early prose and see why the New York Herald Tribune says that he is a writer with ‘haunting quality’ and ‘the sweet sound of sad beauty’.

A Battle is Fought to Be Won is a 1966 novel authored by Francis Clifford. If you have been looking for a unique and interesting vintage novel to read or just love work by Francis Clifford or about the war, check out this book!

The British are outnumbered by the enemy far into the Burmese jungle. The Japanese army is advancing with the greater numbers, and the British are retreating to save face. The main character in this is Captain Tony Gilling. His job is to keep the company’s advance for a few hours. Despite them, being depleted and tired, if they can hold the advance for those hours, they could get a respite for the British troops behind him.

Fighting in the war is vastly different than working the bank job that he has at home. This is something that he’s unprepared for and he becomes shaken by the battle and how savage it is. He feels himself being thrown into turmoil.

The battle is tough on all sides. Resources are being gone through extremely quickly, and men are being killed. On the whole, there is not a good outlook for their situation. Captain Tony is dealing with staring into the face of possible death and lots of uncertainty. It makes sense, after all, because they are fighting an enemy that does not appear to be afraid of death and tortures captured soldiers.

Then there is Nay Dun, who is very aware that Captain Tony does not have much experience in the military. He’s also experiencing paranoia. With the troops’ loyalty also potentially wavering, this is a tough experience to be going through in the middle of the war. He sees what his men go through and the guilt and fear sets him into lucid states.

Can Captain Tony Gilling survive the war? Read this novel to find out!