William F. Buckley, Jr. Books In Order

Publication Order of Blackford Oakes Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

William F. Buckley, Jr.. is an American author born in 1925 and passed in 2008. He is the author of a number of fictional novels, many of which went on to be bestsellers. He has worked as the host of a television program, the writer of a syndicated column in the newspaper, and a popular and often booked lecturer.

He is the author of the Blackford Oakes series, which features twelve books, the first being Saving the Queen (published in 1976) and the last being Last Call for Blackford Oakes, published in 2005. He is the author of many stand-alone novels, including Atlantic Higg, Right Reason, Elvis in the Morning, and The Rake, published in 2007.

William F. Buckley Jr. has also penned a number of non-fiction books. These include his early book Up From Liberalism, published in 1959, to such books as God and Man at Yale in 1978, Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up? in 1998, The Fall of the Berlin Wall in 2004, and Buckley Vs. Vidal in 2015, among many, many others. He has written two published short stories, Crisis in Space and The Temptation of Wilfred Malachey. His stories can be found in the anthologies Tombs and Free Space.

The first book in the Blackford Oakes series is titled Saving the Queen. As you might have guessed, this book definitely has something to do with British royalty! As the novel opens, President Truman is quickly reaching the end of his time in office as President of the United States. Not only is this leader of the free world coming out of office, but there is a new queen in Great Britain. The times they are changing!

Not only are there new leaders entering and former leaders exiting, but the Cold War is beginning to get a little hotter than its moniker suggests. The year is 1952, and there’s a problem: very important military secrets are somehow finding their way into the hands of the Soviets. This brings up the question of who is leaking them. The American government is very concerned that secrets regarding the hydrogen bomb and research on it may be leaking out to Russia.

The C.I.A. has an idea that the source of the leaks is somehow involved in the Queen’s inner circle. It’s good that they have an idea of who is leaking these secrets; however, this lands everyone into a complex and rather delicate situation that must be handled with finesse. The source of the leaks seems to be coming from the Queen’s chambers and they must tread lightly to avoid damaging not only the esteem of the young Queen but her public credibility and image as well. Queen Caroline inherited the throne after her sister’s sudden death.

The young Yale graduate Blackford Oakes, former fighter pilot, debonair man, and handsome to boot– Oakes is the one being called on to participate in a brilliant plan. Although it is true that he doesn’t have the best history with England– his mother and step-father live there– it doesn’t matter much when it comes to the task at hand. He is going to fulfill his mission to get into the inner circle of the royals and win the confidence of the young queen. He will then figure out who is leaking the information and make sure that the leaking stops.

Oakes is not only dealing with this task, but he also has to contend with an affair involving a beautiful woman that seems to be working for the KGB. Whether Oakes is able to be successful in his mission remains to be seen. So he has two women to contend with; one spy and one the leader of England, recently settled onto her throne. Buckingham Palace cannot afford to have more military information fall into the hands of the Russians.

In the end, it’s up to Oakes to figure out how they are going to solve this issue. The mission is met with risk at every turn, and when the showdown happens over London, no one is prepared for the outcome– an outcome that very well might settle the future of the western world once and for all. How does this book end and can the queen be saved? Pick it up to find out in this exciting first installment of the Blackford Oakes series!

Stained Glass is the second novel in the Blackford Oakes series. It starts off with something seeming innocent enough– restoration of windows destroyed in the war in a beautiful German chapel. Blackford Oakes is on sabbatical from his job as a spy for the C.I.A., and as far as he’s concerned, he’s earned his time off. But then he falls into the arms of a beautiful agent for the KGB, and he must face a choice: betray her or deal with a friend who is pushing for a united Germany. Alex Wintergrin is campaigning for his countrymen to unify Germany once more, and Oakes has to make a decision about what to do soon. Should he choose his old friend, and can he stomach pushing a knife into the back of a woman who seems to trust him?

This book features Blackford Oakes in a scenario that is very much ‘what if’ in nature. The American secret agent is called into service once more to go to West Germany, of all places. His goal while there is to become the shadow of Count Axel Wintergren. Wintergren is a German that is running for chancellorship and his only campaign topic is one plank that drives at the unification of West Germany with East Germany.

Wintergren is not the best candidate because he may succeed and that means trouble for the U.S. and Russia. The governments are worried because he threatens violence to get his goals across. Moscow thinks that the U.S. is supporting the radical, but the superiors in Washington are almost too busy with watching Wintergren to assure them otherwise.

They are concerned that he is going to start up a third world war– and it’s been only about a decade since the last one. Russia finds out about Oakes, and starts to wonder if there’s a Russian agent working with Wintergren and if so, what he’s going to do– and if Wintergren may ultimately win the election and set something off that is going to be more difficult to end than to begin.