Among his most popular works are "The Professor's Daughter", "A Married Man", and "A Season in the West". In addition to his written works, Read is also a dramatist and television scriptwriter. In recent years, he has produced a number of authorized biographies and popular history books which are intended for a general audience. Read has worked and lived in both the United Kingdom and the United States, where he published many of his recent works. Read was awarded the Sir Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for "The Junkers"; the Hawthornden Prize and Somerset Maugham Award for "Monk Dawson"; the Thomas More Medal for "Alive"; the Enid McLeod Award for "The Free Frenchman".