| 1920 | Paul Mark Scott born 25 March to Tom Scott and Frances (née) Mark, in Southgate, N. London. |
| 1929 | Enters the Winchmore Hill Collegiate School. |
| c.1934-1935 | Withdrawn from school; taken on as accountant's boy by C.T. Payne in Regent Street. |
| 1940 | Enlists as a private in the 8th Battalion, the Buffs. Posted to Torquay. Poetic trilogy, I, Gerontius, published. |
| 1941 | Marries Nancy Edith Avery (Penny). |
| 1942 | Poems published in Poetry Quarterly and the anthology, Poets of This War. |
| 1943 | Posted to India and sent to the Officers' Training School at Belgaum in western India. Commissioned into the Royal Indian Army Service Corps. |
| 1944 | Sent to Assam as second in command of a section of No. 1 Indian Air Supply Command. Promoted to Captain. Accompanies some flights into Burma. |
| 1945 | Posted to Malaya for mopping-up operations. |
| 1946 | Demobilized in Deolali after six months in Bihar. Appointed bookkeeper to Falcon and Grey Walls Press, rising to Company Secretary. |
| 1947 | Birth of first daughter, Carol Vivien. |
| 1948 | Pillars of Salt published as one of Four Jewish Plays. Birth of second daughter, Sally Elizabeth. |
| 1950 | Becomes a Literary Agent with Pearn, Pollinger and Higham. |
| 1952 | Radio play, Lines of Communication, broadcast and subsequently adapted for television. First novel, Johnnie Sahib, wins the Eyre and Spottiswode Literary Award. |
| 1953 | The Alien Sky published. |
| 1954 | Appointed to directorship at Pearn, Pollinger and Higham. Radio adaptation of The Alien Sky. |
| 1956 | Television adaptation of The Alien Sky. A Male Child published. |
| 1958 | The Mark of the Warrior published. Radio play, Sahibs and Memsahibs, broadcast. Death of Tom Scott; breach with Frances Scott. |
| 1959 | First of several visits to the Costa Brava. Radio adaptation of The Mark of the Warrior. |
| 1960 | The Chinese Love Pavilion published. Resigns from Higham's. |
| 1962 | The Birds of Paradise published. |
| 1963 | Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The Bender published. Travels to the U.S. for the American launch. |
| 1964 | The Corrida at San Feliu published. First return visit to India. Television adaptation of The Bender. |
| 1966 | The Jewel in the Crown published. |
| 1968 | The Day of the Scorpion published. |
| 1969 | The Towers of Silence published. Another visit to India. |
| 1972 | British Council lecture tour in India. |
| 1974 | A Division of the Spoils published. |
| 1975 | Lecture trip to America, speaking at campuses in Texas, Washington, Maryland and Illinois. |
| 1976 | Staying On published. Penny starts legal proceedings to end the marriage. Visiting Professorship for the fall semester at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. |
| 1977 | Travels to the U.S. for the American launch of Staying On and a summer school programme in Detroit. Operated on for colon cancer on his visit to Tulsa. Staying On awarded the Booker Prize. Reunited with Penny on return to England. |
| 1978 | Dies in the Middlesex Hospital, London on 1 March, after a second operation for cancer. |
Last modified 24 May 2005