The novels are listed in the chronological order of the first world edition. Other editions by the same and other publishers are then listed. For each edition, I list the publisher, the country of origin and the approximate date of publication. The date is mostly based on when the reviews appeared, and any advertising the publisher placed in newspapers at that time.
Most of these are hardback editions. However, I have also listed paperbacks - there are a few first world editions in paperback. To indicate a paperback, I have put ‘pbk’ at the end of the entry.
Some of the books were reprinted many times, especially during the Second World War - paper was very scarce and the books could only be reprinted when paper was available. I have only listed the first printing because I want to have a life, and scouring bookshops for years in the hope of finding one more reprint of a book I’ve already got strikes me as somewhat tedious.
Interestingly, during the war, the covers of Kersh’s books were very plain, so this allowed Heinemann to print Kersh’s dust jackets on the back of full colour, glossy jackets of older books which remained unsold. For example, I have an October 1944 reprint of The Nine Lives Of Bill Nelson with Joseph Conrad’s The Nigger Of The Narcissus on the reverse, and a November 1944 reprint of The Horrible Dummy with Margery Allingham’s Police At The Funeral on the back.
In some cases, the novel is published under a different title or is in a foreign language. I have listed these, in brackets, immediately below the original title.
Regarding the country of origin, I have used the following abbreviations: UK (United Kingdom), US (Unitied States), Can (Canada), Fr (France), and Ger (Germany).
Jews Without Jehovah
Wishart (UK) April 1934
Men Are So Ardent
Wishart (UK) January 1936
W Morrow & Co (US) June 1936
Heinemann (UK) February 1950
Heinemann (UK) July 13 1953
Night And The City
Michael Joseph (UK) March 1938
S J R Saunders (Can) March 1938
Michael Joseph (UK) March 1939
Heinemann (UK) November 25 1946
Simon & Schuster (US) March 1946
Heinemann (UK) Sept 1950
Dell 374 (US) February 1950, pbk
Harlequin 45 (US) April 1950, pbk
Ace (UK) April 18 1958, pbk
Brainiac (UK) January 1993, pbk
(as Dishonor)
Avon T111 (US) December 1955, pbk
(as Les Forbans De La Nuit, trans S Henry & R Amblard)
Denoël (Fr) 1953, pbk
Gallimard SN 480 (Fr) 1959, pbk
Gallimard CN 84 (Fr) 1972, pbk
They Die With Their Boots Clean
Heinemann (UK) December 1941
Ryerson Press (Can) December 1941
Reader's Union (UK) 1942
Right Book Club (UK) 1942
Guild (UK) 1946
Heinemann (UK) Sept 1950
Reader's Book Club (UK) 1952
Heinemann & Chatto (UK) April 20 1953
Panther 702 (UK) June 26 1957, pbk
Heinemann (UK) October 1967
(See also Sergeant Nelson Of The Guards)
The Nine Lives Of Bill Nelson
Heinemann (UK) July 1942
Ryerson Press (Can) July 1942
Right Book Club (UK) 1943
World's Work (UK) October 1944
WDL W801 (UK) October 1958, pbk
(See also Sergeant Nelson Of The Guards)
The Dead Look On
Heinemann (UK) February 1943
Ryerson Press (Can) February 1943
Reynal & Hitchcock (US) May 1943
Right Book Club (UK) 1944
Ace H171 (UK) January 17 1958, pbk
Four Square 1774 (UK) February 1967, pbk
(as Les Morts Nous Regardent, trans by Gabrielle Freycinet)
Heinemann & Zsolnay (Fr) November 1943$or 1945?$
A Brain And Ten Fingers
Heinemann (UK) July 1943
(see also second listing The Weak And The Strong)
(as Le Feu Sacre, trans by Xavier H Real)
Heinemann & Zsolnay (Fr) 1943
Faces In A Dusty Picture
Heinemann (UK) February 1944
World's Work (UK) October 1944,
McGraw Hill (US) February 1945
(as Silhouettes Dans Les Sables, trans by Stephanie Henri)
Heinemann & Zsolnay (Fr) 1946
Sergeant Nelson Of The Guards
(This is a compilation of They Die With Their Boots Clean and The Nine Lives Of Bill Nelson, with a new introduction by Kersh, dedicated to his good friend the late Colonel Morrow Krum, and with a short glossary of slang words in the back.)
John C Winston (US) April 1945
An Ape, A Dog And A Serpent
Heinemann (UK) May 1945
Ryerson Press (Can) May 1945
The Weak And The Strong
Heinemann (UK) October 1945, (2nd) October 1945
Ryerson Press (Can) October 1945
Simon & Shuster (US) October 1946
(see also second listing The Weak And The Strong)
Prelude To A Certain Midnight
Doubleday (US) May 1947
S J R Saunders (Can) May 1947
Heinemann (UK) Sept 1947
Lion 98 (US) July 1952, pbk
Penguin 894 (UK) December 1952, pbk
WDL M729 (UK) March 20 1959, pbk
Dover (US) 1983, pbk
The Song Of The Flea
Doubleday (US) April 1948
S J R Saunders (Can) April 1948
Heinemann (UK) August 1948, Sept 1950, November 1967
The Thousand Deaths Of Mr Small
Doubleday (US) August 1950
Heinemann (UK) June 1951
The Great Wash
(This book was originally serialised in five weekly parts as The Mystery Of The Third Compartment in the Saturday Evening Post (US), beginning November 22 1952.)
Heinemann (UK) January 19 1953
Heinemann (UK) October 18 1954
(as The Secret Masters)
Ballantine 28 (US) July 1953, pbk
Fowlers End
Simon & Shuster (US) May 26 1957
Heinemann (UK) April 8 1958
Heinemann (UK) January 1 1962
WDL N948 (UK) July 22 1960, pbk
The Weak And The Strong
(A bit of a curio this. This edition contains both The Weak And The Strong and A Brain And Ten Fingers. Now, the former is about a group of people trapped in a cave on an island, and the latter is about Yugoslav guerrillas building a bridge during the war, yet the cover depicts a tough private eye (with gun) and pouting girl, in London. I don’t think the publishers had a clue what they were doing with this one.)
Digit (UK) February 27 1959, pbk
The Implacable Hunter
Heinemann (UK) June 5 1961
British Bk Service (Can) June 5 1961
Pan X311 (UK) July 3 1964, pbk
A Long Cool Day In Hell
Heinemann (UK) January 18 1965
Collins (Can) January 18 1965
Consul (UK) January 1966, pbk
The Angel And The Cuckoo
New American Lib (US) May 28 1966
Heinemann (UK) February 1967
Collins (Can) February 1967
Pan (UK) November 1969, pbk
Brock
Heinemann (UK) October 1969
As before, I have listed these books in chronological order with multiple editions. In addition, there is an alphabetical list of the short stories contained in each collection.
I Got References
Michael Joseph (UK) October 1939
Saunders (Can) October 1939
Heinemann (UK) April 1947
`Busto Is A Ghost, Too Mean To Give (US) A Fright'
The Cat Finds His Way Home
Comrade Death
The Conqueror Worm
The Detestable Black Widow
The Devil That Troubled The Chessboard
Hairy Cohen
The Horrible House With The Secret Pipes
Kannibalsky
A Saint
Selected Stories
Staples & Staples (UK) 1943, March 1943
The Battle Of The Singing Men
The Bitter Seas
The Drunk And The Blind
Dudelsack
The Dungeon
The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy
Grass
Gomez
The Host
Kannibalsky
Lives
The Musicians
The Old Burying Place
Prometheus
The Ruined Wall
Shaggy Yellow Dog
Some Other Star
The Stone
Strong Greek Wine
The Undefeated
A Vision Of A Lost Child
Will To Power
The Wolf Dies In Silence
The Battle Of The Singing Men
Everybody's Books (UK) March 1944
The Battle Of The Singing Men
The Drunk And The Blind
Dudelsack
The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy
The Musicians
Prometheus
The Stone
The Undefeated
Will To Power
The Horrible Dummy And Other Stories
Heinemann (UK) October 1944, November 1944
(as `Vive La France!' Et Autres Contes, trans Stephanie Henri)
Heinemann & Zsolnay (Fr) Sept 1945
All That One Man Remembered
The Battle Of The Singing Men
A Bit Of A Change
The Bitter Seas
Comrade Death
The Devil That Troubled The Chessboard
The Drunk And The Blind
Dudelsack
The Evil Destiny Of Dr Polacek
The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy
Hairy Cohen
Irongut And The Brown Mouse
Lunatic's Broth
The Last Coin Of Mr Baer
The Musicians
A Ruby Worth Eleven Hundred Pounds
Shaggy Yellow Dog
Slaves
The Stone
The Ten Old Tigers
The Undefeated
The White Flash
The Woman In The Mud
Neither Man Nor Dog
Heinemann (UK) March 1946
Ryerson Press (Can) March 1946
A Bang On The Head For Dutoit
The Conqueror Worm
Destiny And The Bullet
Dr Ox Will Die At Midnight
The Dungeon
Dustin - The Broken Man
The Earwig
Envy
Fantasy Of A Hunted Man
The Fortunes Of The Pryskys
The Frenchman Who Understood Women
The Gentleman All In Black
Gomez
Grey Old She-Wolf
Hero-Worship
The House Of Relish
In A Room Without Walls
The Last Battle
Let Lying Dogs Sleep
Macagony's Fist
Maria's Christ
The Naked Man
Neither Man Nor Dog
The Old Burying Place
Red Gentleman Of Staffordshire
Reflections In A Brown Eye
Reflections In A Tablespoon
The Ruined Wall
The Sailor's Farewell To His Horse
A Small And Dirty Dog
Strong Greek Wine
Tread Lightly
Uncle Kuzma
An Undistinguished Boy
Who Wants A Liver-Coloured Cat?
Wolf! Wolf!
The Woman And The Fire
Clean, Bright & Slightly Oiled
Heinemann (UK) Sept 1946
Mary Johns
Blast!
Sad Road To The Sea
Heinemann (UK) July 1947
Bitter Pink Paper
The Cat Finds His Way Home
The Crash Of Max Raddish
Crazy Quarrel
Do You Follow Me?
Flesh And Grass
Green Powder
The Hat
The History Of Dancing Oliver
The Host
Kannibalsky
Knock, Knock!
Lives
Love, The Marksman
The Man Who Saw God
The Memorial
One Guinea's Worth
Prometheus
Sacred To The Memory
Sad Road To The Sea
The Scar
The Scene Of The Crime
Seed
Seed Of Destruction
Some Late Lark Singing
Some Other Star
The Story Of Johnny Boots
Thirty-One Seconds
This Stuff Is Like Cigarette Ash
Two Gentlemen Of Bucharest
A Vision Of A Lost Child
Voices In The Dust Of Annan
Will To Power
The Wolf Dies In Silence
The Woman And The Doll
Clock Without Hands
Heinemann (UK) May 1949
S J R Saunders (Can) May 1949
Heinemann (UK) July 13 1953
Clock Without Hands
Fairy Gold
Flight To The World's End
Brazen Bull
Heinemann (UK) June 1952
British Bk Sevice (Can) June 1952
Heinemann (UK) May 10 1954
The Brazen Bull
The Forbidding Doorway
Jack Of Swords
Mr Ypsilanti In The Dark
The Unbroken Heart
Visitors For Tea
The Brighton Monster & Other Stories
Heinemann (UK) Sept 14 1953
Heinemann (UK) October 3 1955
The Ape And The Mystery
The Brighton Monster
The Copper Dahlia
The Epistle Of Simple Simon
Frozen Beauty
Judas Forgiven
Ladies Or Clothes
Note On Danger B
The Queen Of Pig Island
Wealth Of Nations
Whatever Happened To Corporal Cuckoo?
White Horse With Wings
Guttersnipe: Little Novels
Heinemann (UK) March 29 1954
The Crewel Needle
Guttersnipe
The King Who Collected Clocks
Last Love
On The Other Hand
Teeth And Nails
Thicker Than Water
Men Without Bones
Heinemann (UK) November 28 1955
British Bk Service (Can) November 28 1955
WDL SF975 (UK) October 21 1960, pbk
Buried Treasure
Carnival On The Downs
The Charcoal Burner
The Dancing Doll
Elizabeth And Temptation
The End Of A Wise Guy
The Fabulous Fido
Femme Fatale
Gratitude
The Guardian
The Hack
In A Misty Window
Incident In A Tavern
The Life And Times Of The Dog Basta
The Madwoman
Memory Of A Fight
Men Without Bones
One Case In A Million
The Sympathetic Souse
The Tarleton Twins
The Violin Maker
The White-Washed Room
On An Odd Note
Ballantine 268 (US) June 1958, pbk
The Beggar's Stone
The Brighton Monster
The Crewel Needle
The Extraordinarily Horrible Dummy
The Eye
Fantasy Of A Hunted Man
Frozen Beauty
The Gentleman All In Black
Prophet Without Honor
The Queen Of Pig Island
Reflections In A Tablespoon
Seed Of Destruction
The Sympathetic Souse
The Ugly Face Of Love
Heinemann (UK) March 11 1960
Ace H534 (UK) February 22 1962, pbk
Apprentice Assassin
Collector's Piece
The Eye
The Incorruptible Tailor
Ou Est The Corpse De Ma Tante?
The Oxoxoco Bottle
Prophet Without Honor
River Of Riches
The Shady Life Of Annibal
Terraces
The Ugly Face Of Love
The Best Of Gerald Kersh
(Ed Simon Raven, with Preface)
Heinemann (UK) August 22 1960, July 22 1963
British Bk Service (Can) August 22 1960
The Ape And The Mystery
The Brighton Monster
`Busto Is A Ghost, Too Mean To Give (US) A Fright'
Carnival On The Downs
Clock Without Hands
The Crewel Needle
The Devil That Troubled The Chessboard
Frozen Beauty
In A Room Without Walls
The King Who Collected Clocks
Men Without Bones
Neither Man Nor Dog
The Oxoxoco Bottle
The Queen Of Pig Island
The Sympathetic Souse
Teeth And Nails
Thicker Than Water
The White-Washed Room
Men Without Bones
Paperback Library 52-127 (US) January 1962, pbk
The Ape And The Mystery
Clock Without Hands
The Dancing Doll
The Epistle Of Simple Simon
The Hack
In A Room Without Walls
Ladies Or Clothes
The Madwoman
Men Without Bones
The Oxoxoco Bottle
The Shady Life Of Annibal
The Terrible Ride Of Colonel Tessier
Thicker Than Water
The Terrible Wild Flowers
Heinemann (UK) October 22 1962
Remploy (UK) January 1980
Remploy/State Mutual Bank (US) 1981
The Oracle Of The Fish
Perfect Camera
A Problem In Curves
The Pug And The Angel
The Secret History Of A Hero
The Strange Fate Of Jonah The Moaner
Tamara Prolly
The Terribly Wild Flowers
The Wrong Side Of Things
More Than Once Upon A Time
Heinemann (UK) May 25 1964
Collins (Can) May 25 1964
The Defeat Of The Demon Tailor
Greek Tragedy
Fabulous Bargain
Heartless Heidi
A Little Something In The Bank
A Lucky Day For The Boar
The Molosso Overcoats
More Than Once Upon A Time
The Nimroud Rug
No Matter How You Slice It
Proud Servant
Return Of The Dog
The Spanish Prisoner
The Tremendous Trifle
A Walk In The Snow
The Hospitality Of Miss Tolliver And Other Stories
Heinemann (UK) October 1965
And If This Ain't Love, Gorblimey
Bone For Debunkers
An Enemy Of Women
For A Song
Ghost Money
High Stakes At The Swede's
Putting The Bite On Cashel
A Tale Told In The Twilight
The Hospitality Of Miss Tolliver
Kind Of Like A Beauty Contest, Sort Of
The Lady Who Played The Fool
The Laughing-Stock
Nothing Succeeds Like Failure
Old Betsy
The Person In Solferino Park
Nightshade & Damnations
(Introduction by Harlan Ellison)
Gold Medal R1887 (US) January 1968, pbk
Coronet 0839 (UK) March 1969, pbk
The Ape And The Mystery
Bone For Debunkers
The Brighton Monster
`Busto Is A Ghost, Too Mean To Give Us A Fright'
Frozen Beauty
The King Who Collected Clocks
A Lucky Day For The Boar
Men Without Bones
The Queen Of Pig Island
Voices In The Dust Of Annan
Whatever Happened To Corporal Cuckoo?
Mann Ohne Gesicht
Kersh’s Clock With Hands is the lead short story in this collection. However, because there is a famous German book with the same title, the story was renamed Man Without A Face, and so this is the title of the collection. The stories were selected and translated by Peter Naujack. He chose stories from The Brighton Monster And Other Stories (1953), On An Odd Note (1960), The Best Of Gerald Kersh (1960), More Than Once Upon A Time (1964) and The Hospitality Of Miss Toliver And Other Stories (1965).
Diogenes (Ger) 1977, pbk
Der Affe Und Das Geheimnis (The Ape And The Mystery)
Das Ungeheuer Von Brighton (The Brighton Monster)
Mann Ohne Gesicht (Clock With Hands)
Die Kupferne Dahlie (The Copper Dahlia)
Wachtraum Eines Gerhetzten (Fantasy Of A Hunted Man)
Für Ein Lied (For A Song)
Der Herr In Schwarz (The Gentleman All In Black)
Vergebunf Für Judas (Judas Forgiven)
Eine Kleinigkeit Auf Der Bank (A Little Something In The Bank)
Menschen Ohne Knochen (Men Without Bones)
Bericht Über Gefahr B (Note On Danger B)
Die Oxoxoco-Flasche (The Oxoxoco Bottle)
Das Saatkorn Des Todes (Seed Of Destruction)
Der Spanische Gefangene (The Spanish Prisoner)
Dicker Als Wasser (Thicker Than Water)