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David Gilman

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.davidgilman.com

Twitter

davidgilmanuk

Genre

Historical Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult

Member Since

May 2013

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David Gilman was raised in Liverpool and educated in Wales. By the time he was 16 he was driving a battered 1946 Ford, ferrying construction workers in the African bush. A variety of jobs followed in different countries: fire and rescue, forestry work, JCB driver, window dresser and professional photographer in an advertising agency. He served in the Parachute Regiment’s Reconnaissance Platoon and then worked in publishing. In 1986 he turned to full-time writing. He has written many radio and television scripts including several years of ‘A Touch of Frost’. In 2007 his ‘Danger Zone’ trilogy for YA was sold in 15 countries. The first in the series – The Devil’s Breath was long listed for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and won the French Prix Polar ...more

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Hi David, Just finished the Master Of War series. Best books I have read in ages. Will there be more books than the 5 in the series or is it done? Thanks a mil...

David Gilman James, apologies for this late reply but your question was not flagged for some reason and I have only just come across it. Thanks for your generous c…moreJames, apologies for this late reply but your question was not flagged for some reason and I have only just come across it. Thanks for your generous comments I'm pleased you are enjoying the series. If you have finished Scourge of Wolves, the 5th book, then there is another on the way. I have recently delivered the 6th book - Cross of Fire - which should be published in February 2020. There was a bit of a delay this year because I wrote another standalone which was published in February 2019 - Night Flight to Paris. I hope you continue to enjoy the books. Best wishes, David.(less)

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Hi David, I was very impressed with the Englishman especially the scenes from the Mali war as well as the Russian penal colony. Such a level of realism and scenes are unusual for a book in English. May I know did you carry out the research for this as such information are not easily available in English language?

David Gilman Dear Sudhagar,
Thank you for getting in touch. It took a long time to dig out the research for both the Mali war involvement of the French Foreign Leg…moreDear Sudhagar,
Thank you for getting in touch. It took a long time to dig out the research for both the Mali war involvement of the French Foreign Legion (I'm pleased to say a former Legionnaire with 15 years experience thought I had got the whole Legion ethic correct). I also recall being in Africa, both jungle and desert when I was a soldier and from the time I lived in Africa afterwards. So there are many sources of inspiration that can be embraced and out down on the page. And I am pleased to hear you think the atmosphere prevailed in the novel.
As far as the penal colony goes I found information via an Italian documentary in an Italian magazine and then discovered more about the harshness of these penal colonies. There are quite a few of them and some, like the one in the book are really bad - and it was one colony in particular that the various sites and articles in international, as well as Russian, periodicals that I based this prison on. Thanks again for getting in touch, Best wishes, David. (less)

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David Gilman’s books

Average rating: 4.35 · 28,367 ratings · 1,401 reviews · 48 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Blooding (Master of War #1) 4.28 avg rating — 5,407 ratings — published 2013 — 32 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Englishman (The Englishman #1) 4.16 avg rating — 3,210 ratings — published 2020 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Night Flight to Paris 4.24 avg rating — 2,860 ratings — published 2018 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Defiant Unto Death (Master of War #2) 4.33 avg rating — 2,265 ratings — published 2015 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cross of Fire (Master of War #6) 4.62 avg rating — 2,118 ratings — published 2020 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gate of the Dead (Master of War #3) 4.44 avg rating — 2,070 ratings — published 2015 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Viper's Blood (Master of War #4) 4.52 avg rating — 1,915 ratings — published 2016 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadow of the Hawk (Master of War #7) 4.60 avg rating — 1,751 ratings — published 2021 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Scourge of Wolves (Master of War #5) 4.58 avg rating — 1,682 ratings — published 2017 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	To Kill a King (Master of War #8) 4.71 avg rating — 1,105 ratings — published 2024 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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David Gilman's Blog

Historia interview: David Gilman

David Gilman’s new novel, Rage of Swords, is the latest in his Master of War series and sees Thomas Blackstone in action in Italy. David tells Historia about the ideas and research behind his…

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Published on November 12, 2025 23:45

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Series by David Gilman

Master of War (8 books)
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David Gilman (Goodreads Author)

4.45 avg rating — 18,479 ratings

The Englishman (3 books)
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David Gilman (Goodreads Author)

4.23 avg rating — 4,871 ratings

Danger Zone (3 books)
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David Gilman (Goodreads Author)

3.62 avg rating — 1,245 ratings

David is Currently Reading

David Gilman is currently reading

Divided Houses: The Hundred Years War, Volume 3

by Jonathan Sumption

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May 23, 2019 10:03AM

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David Gilman wrote a new blog post Historia interview: David Gilman David Gilman’s new novel, Rage of Swords, is the latest in his Master of War series and sees Thomas Blackstone in action in Italy. David tells Histori Read more of this blog post »
Nov 14, 2025 04:48AM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by David Gilman (?)

“Two boys.
Both supposed to be dead.
Double trouble.”
― David Gilman, The Devil's Breath

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“The ground shudders from cavalry attack and cannon fire. You can smell the sweat of fear." - The Keys of Hell and Death by Charles Cordell”
― David Gilman

tags: 1600s, 17th-century, charles-cordell, cover-quotes, divided-kingdom, endorsement, english-civil-war, historical-novel, renaissance, stuart

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“Blackstone got to his feet and, without thinking, raised the talisman to his lips and kissed the Celtic goddess in thanks for her protection. Perhaps, he thought, God allowed angels and goddesses to share His kingdom so they might shadow the likes of him who constantly sinned through lack of prayer and who harboured doubt about His existence.”
― David Gilman, Master of War

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