Tom Swift I books in order

The original Tom Swift series follows a young inventor through forty-three adventure novels featuring motorcycles, submarines, airships, and inventions far ahead of their time.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle / Fun and Adventure on the Road 1910 Victor Appleton Buy
2 The Black Dragon 1991 Victor Appleton N/A
3 Tom Swift and His Motor-Boat / The Rivals of Lake Carlopa 1910 Victor Appleton Buy
4 The Negative Zone 1991 Victor Appleton N/A
5 Tom Swift and His Airship / The Stirring Cruise of the Red Cloud 1910 Victor Appleton Buy
6 Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat / Under the Ocean for Sunken Treasure 1910 Victor Appleton Buy
7 Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout / The Speediest Car on the Road 1910 Victor Appleton Buy
8 Tom Swift and His Wireless Message / The Castaways of Earthquake Island 1911 Victor Appleton Buy
9 Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers / The Secret of Phantom Mountain 1911 Victor Appleton Buy
10 Tom Swift and His Sky Racer / The Quickest Flight on Record 1911 Victor Appleton Buy
11 Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle / Daring Adventures in Elephant Island 1911 Victor Appleton Buy
12 Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice / The Wreck of the Airship 1911 Victor Appleton Buy
13 Tom Swift in the City of Gold / Marvelous Adventures Underground 1912 Victor Appleton Buy
14 Tom Swift and His Air Glider / Seeking the Platinum Treasure 1912 Victor Appleton Buy
15 Tom Swift in Captivity / A Daring Escape by Airship 1912 Victor Appleton Buy
16 Quantum Force 1993 Victor Appleton N/A
17 Tom Swift and His Wizard Camera / Thrilling Adventures While Taking Moving Pictures 1912 Victor Appleton Buy
18 Tom Swift and His Great Search Light / On the Border for Uncle Sam 1912 Victor Appleton Buy
19 Tom Swift and His Giant Cannon / The Longest Shots on Record 1913 Victor Appleton Buy
20 Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone / The Picture That Saved a Fortune 1914 Victor Appleton Buy
21 Tom Swift and His Aerial Warship / The Naval Terror of the Seas 1915 Victor Appleton Buy
22 Tom Swift and His Big Tunnel / The Hidden City of the Andes 1916 Victor Appleton Buy
23 Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders / The Underground Search for the Idol of Gold 1917 Victor Appleton Buy
24 Tom Swift and His War Tank / Doing His Bit for Uncle Sam 1918 Victor Appleton Buy
25 Tom Swift and His Air Scout / Uncle Sam’s Mastery of the Sky 1919 Victor Appleton Buy
26 Tom Swift and His Undersea Search / The Treasure on the Floor of the Atlantic 1920 Victor Appleton Buy
27 Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters / Battling with Flames in the Air / Tom Swift and the Flaming Air Battle 1921 Victor Appleton Buy
28 Tom Swift and His Electric Locomotive / Two Miles a Minute on the Rails 1922 Victor Appleton Buy
29 Tom Swift and His Flying Boat / Castaways of the Giant Iceberg 1923 Victor Appleton Buy
30 Tom Swift and His Great Oil Gusher / The Treasure of Goby Farm 1924 Victor Appleton Buy
31 Tom Swift and His Chest of Secrets / Tracing the Stolen Inventions 1925 Victor Appleton Buy
32 Tom Swift and His Airline Express / From Ocean to Ocean by Daylight 1926 Victor Appleton Buy
33 Tom Swift Circling the Globe / The Daring Cruise of the Air Monarch 1927 Victor Appleton Buy
34 Tom Swift and His Talking Pictures / The Greatest Invention on Record 1928 Victor Appleton Buy
35 Tom Swift and His House on Wheels / A Trip Around the Mountain of Mystery 1929 Victor Appleton Buy
36 Tom Swift and His Big Dirigible / Adventures Over the Forest of Fire 1930 Victor Appleton Buy
37 Tom Swift and His Sky Train / Overland Through the Clouds 1931 Victor Appleton Buy
38 Tom Swift and His Giant Magnet / Bringing Up the Lost Submarine 1932 Victor Appleton Buy
39 Tom Swift and His Television Detector / Trailing the Secret Plotters 1933 Victor Appleton Buy
40 Tom Swift and His Ocean Airport / Foiling the Haargolanders 1934 Victor Appleton Buy
41 Tom Swift and His Planet Stone / Discovering the Secret of Another World 1935 Victor Appleton Buy
42 Tom Swift and His Giant Telescope 1939 Victor Appleton Buy
43 Tom Swift and His Magnetic Silencer 1941 Victor Appleton N/A

The original Tom Swift series launched in 1910 with Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle and ran forty-three books through 1941. Tom is a young inventor whose creations drive the plot of each book — he builds submarines, airships, electric runabouts, wireless messages, and dozens of other devices, many of which anticipated real technology by decades.

The series defined a genre of invention-based adventure fiction for young readers and made Tom Swift a household name. The character’s influence extended beyond fiction — the word “taser” is an acronym for “Tom A. Swift’s Electric Rifle,” drawn directly from the 1911 book.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Tom Swift I series?

There are 43 books in the Tom Swift I series, published between 1910 and 1993.

What is the first book in the Tom Swift I series?

The first book in the Tom Swift I series is Tom Swift and His Motor-Cycle / Fun and Adventure on the Road, published in 1910.

What is the original Tom Swift series about?

The original Tom Swift follows a teenage inventor whose creations — from motor-cycles and airships to giant cannons and television detectors — drive adventures across the globe. Forty-three books published between 1910 and 1941 made Tom Swift one of the most famous characters in American children’s fiction and influenced real-world inventors.

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