Christopher Samuel Youd was born in Lancashire. He was educated at Peter Symonds' School in Winchester, Hampshire (now Peter Symonds College). His surname Youd is of Dutch origin (French Flemish dialect).

He did his war service in the Royal Corps of Signals between 1941 and 1946. A scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation made it possible for him to pursue his writing career, beginning with The Winter Swan. His novels were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably The Death Of Grass. In recent years his novels appear to have fallen out of favour and now few remain in print, although they are still valued by collectors and fans of the genre. There was a brief revival in the 1980s after British television dramatised The Tripods.

Many of his science fiction novels follow the ruined earth pattern also followed by (among others) John Wyndham and H. G. Wells. In these novels everyday characters are placed into a setting in which they experience a major disaster which has severe implications for society and the world. Thus, he explores how characters and society cope with such changes.

In 1966 he started writing science-fiction for adolescents. The Tripods trilogy, the Prince in Waiting trilogy (also known as the Sword of the Spirits trilogy), and The Lotus Caves are still widely read today. The Tripods is being developed as a film by Alex Proyas at Paramount Pictures andThe Lotus Caves is being developed as a film by Walden Media.

The Death of Grass was re-released in the Penguin Modern Classics series in April 2009.

Books

(as John Christopher unless noted)

• The Winter Swan (1949, as Christopher Youd)
• Babel Itself (1951, as Samuel Youd)
• Brave Conquerors (1952, as Samuel Youd)
• Crown and Anchor (1953, as Samuel Youd)
• A Palace of Strangers (1954, as Samuel Youd)
• The Twenty-Second Century (1954)
• Holly Ash (US title The Opportunist, 1955, as Samuel Youd)
• The Year of the Comet (US title Planet in Peril, 1955)
• The Death of Grass (US title No Blade of Grass, 1957)
• Giant's Arrow (1956) (as Anthony Rye and in US as Samuel Youd)
• Malleson at Melbourne (1956, as William Godfrey) - a cricket novel, Volume 1 of an unfinished trilogy
• Dust and the Curious Boy (US title Give the Devil His Due, 1957, as Peter Graaf) - Volume 1 in the Joe Dust series
• The Friendly Game (1957, as William Godfrey) - Volume 2 of his unfinished cricket trilogy
• The Caves of Night (1958)
• Daughter Fair (1958, as Peter Graaf) - Volume 2 in the Joe Dust series
• Felix Walking (1958, as Hilary Ford)
• Felix Running (1959, as Hilary Ford)
• The Sapphire Conference (1959, as Peter Graaf) - Volume 3 in the Joe Dust series
• A Scent of White Poppies (1959)
• The Long Voyage (US title The White Voyage, 1960)
• The Choice (UK title The Burning Bird, 1961, as Samuel Youd)
• Messages of Love (1961, as Samuel Youd)
• The Gull's Kiss (1962, as Peter Graaf)
• The World in Winter (US title The Long Winter, 1962)
• The Summers at Accorn (1963, as Samuel Youd)
• Cloud on Silver (US title Sweeney's Island, 1964)
• The Possessors (1964)
• Bella on the Roof (1965, as Hilary Ford)
• Patchwork of Death (1965, as Peter Nichols)
• A Wrinkle in the Skin (US title The Ragged Edge, 1965)
• The Little People (1966)
• The Tripods trilogy'
• The White Mountains (1967)
• The City of Gold and Lead (1967)
• The Pool of Fire (1968)
• a prequel...see below...was published in 1988
• The Practice (1968, as Stanley Winchester)
• Men With Knives (US title A Man With a Knife, 1968, as Stanley Winchester)
• Pendulum (1968)
• The Lotus Caves (1969)
• The Guardians (1970)
• The Helpers (1970, as Stanley Winchester)
• Sword of the Spirits trilogy'
• The Prince In Waiting (1970)
• Beyond the Burning Lands (1971)
• The Sword of the Spirits (1972)
• Dom and Va (1973)
• A Figure in Grey (1973, as Hilary Ford)
• Ten Per Cent of Your Life (1973, as Stanley Winchester)
• Sarnia (1974, as Hilary Ford)
• Wild Jack (1974)
• Castle Malindine (1975, as Hilary Ford)
• A Bride for Bedivere (1976, as Hilary Ford)
• Empty World (1977)
• Fireball Trilogy
• Fireball (1981)
• New Found Land (1983)
• Dragon Dance (1986)
• When the Tripods Came (1988), a prequel to The Tripods trilogy
• A Dusk of Demons (1993)
• Bad Dream (2003)

Short stories

1941: "Dreamer" published in Weird Tales, Vol. 35 No. 8C, March 1941 (as C.S. Youd)1949: "Christmas Roses" published in Astounding Science Fiction Vol. 42 No. 6, February 1949 (as Christopher Youd)

"Colonial" published in Astounding Science Fiction Vol. 43 No. 2, April 1949

1950: "Monster" published in Science-Fantasy Summer 1950 (as Christopher Samuel Youd)1951: "Tree Of Wrath" published in Worlds Beyond Science-Fantasy Fiction, Vol 1 No. 2, Jan. 1951 (as Christopher Youd)

also as "The Tree", illustrated by Quinn, published in New Worlds, No. 11, Nova publications 1951, Autumn 1951

"Socrates" published in "Galaxy Science Fiction", SF Digest Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 6, March 1951

"Man of Destiny" published in "Galaxy Science Fiction", SF Digest Magazine, Vol. 2 No. 2, May 1951

"In the Balance" published in "FUTURE", July 1951 Vol. 2 as C. S. Youd

1952: "Breaking Point" published in New Worlds No. 15 (Nova Publications) May 1952

"Resurrection" published in Science-Fantasy No. 4, Spring 1952 (as Christopher Samuel Youd)

1953: "unknown title" published in The best SF Stories" 3rd Series by Grayson & Grayson, 1953

"Relativity" published in Space SF Digest Vol. 1 No. 3 March 1953

"Confessional" published in Science Fantasy No. 6, Spring 1953 (as John Christopher)

"Mr. Kowtshook" published in Science-Fantasy Spring 1953, No. 6 (as Christopher Samuel Youd) and in AVON Science fiction and Fantasy Reader #1, JAN 1953 as John Christopher.

"The Drop", published in Galaxy March 1953 (as Christopher Youd); later published in Gateway To Tomorrow edited by John Carnell, published

by Panther 1963

"The Prophet" published in New Worlds No. 20 (Nova Publications) March 1953 and in Thrilling Wonder Stories Vol. XLII No. 2, June 1953

"Breaking Point" published in New Worlds No. 15, May 1952 and April 1953 issue of Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader No. 2

"Planet of Change" published in Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 36; Aug. 15, 1953

"Blemish" published in Authentic No. 39, November 1953 (as John Christopher)

"Explosion Delayed published in Space Science Fiction No. 6, June 1953 (as William Vine)

"Balance" published in The Best Science Fiction Stories Third Series edited by Everett F. Bleiler and T. E. Dikty

1954: "Talent" published in Nebula SF Digest Magazine No. 11, December 1954 (as John Christopher)

"Talent for the Future" published in Fantastic Universe, No. 11, December 1954

"A Time of Peace" published in Saturn Science Fiction No. 4, 1954

"Museum Piece" published in Orbit Science Fiction Vol. 1 No. 2, January 1954 and published in New Worlds #22 Vol. 8, No. 22, April 1954

"Aristotle" published in Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 42, 15 February 1954

"Death Sentence" published in Science-Fantasy No. 7, March 1954 (as Christopher Samuel Youd)

"The New Wine, Fantastic Story Magazine Summer 1954

"Escape Route" published in New Worlds, No. 24, June 1954

"Vacation" published in IF Worlds of Science Fiction Vol. 4 No. 3, November 1954 (as John Christopher)

"The Name Of This City in Worlds of Science Fiction, UK, Vol. 1 No. 15

1955: "unknown title" published in British Digest New Worlds SF No. 33, March 1955

"Decoy" published in The Twenty-Second Century (Grayson, 1954) and in Science Fiction Stories, July 1955

"Conspiracy" published in British Authentic Science Fiction #53, January 1955 published by Hamilton and Co

1956: "The Gardener" published in Tales of the Frightened Vol. 1 No. 1, 1956; ghost-edited by Michael Avallone1957: "No Blade of Grass" (Fourth of seven parts), The Saturday Evening Post, 18 May 19571958: "Caves of Night" serialisation, John Bull Magazine, April 19581959: "Summer's Lease", Argosy (UK) July 1959 (also in The Best of British SF 1 published by Orbit Books in the UK in 1977)1965: "A Few Kindred Spirits" published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction No. 174, November 1965, Vol. 29 No. 51967: "The Little People" published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (Vol. 32 #1 (Whole #188)) January 1967, No. 1—12)

"Communication Problem" published in Beyond Infinity Vol. 1 No. 1. November — December 1967. Published by I. D. Publications Inc., Hollywood, California

1969: "Ringing Tone" published in The Tenth PAN Book of Horror Stories, edited by Herbert van Thal 19691971: "Of Polymuf Stock" Young Winter’s Tales No. 2, ed. M. R. Hodgkin, London: Macmillan, 19711972: "Specimen" published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Vol. 43 No. 6 (Whole #259)) December 19721973: "Blemish" published in In Time to Come, published by Topliner, 19731974: "The Long Night" published in Galaxy October 1974