Top 10 Best British Writers

1. Charles Dickens

   

   Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812-9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many scholars and readers as one of the greatest novelists of the Victorian era.... read more

2. Jane Austen

   

   Jane Austen was an English novelist known principally for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment on the lives of the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.

   Her most famous works include Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. Austen's novels are... read more

3. Agatha Christie

   

   Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Mallowan, Lady Mallowan, was an English crime novelist, short story writer, and playwright.

   She is the best-selling novelist of all time, with her books having sold more than two billion copies worldwide. Christie also wrote The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running... read more

   Agatha Christie, in my eyes, is the Mother of Crime Fiction. Her Poirot series especially is superb. Her books are only outsold by the Bible. I love how her books are timeless, and there's often a romantic aura surrounding them which could really only come from that particular era. Nice list.

4. J. K. Rowling

   

   Joanne Rowling, CH, OBE, FRSL, FRCPE, who writes under the pen names J.K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist, philanthropist, film and television producer, and screenwriter best known for creating the Harry Potter fantasy series. The series has sold over 500 million copies worldwide... read more

   She is by far the best author ever. I don't think anyone could have come up with such a world with so much detail about it (I'm talking about Harry Potter), and ever since I've read the Harry Potter books, I can't find another book series that amuses me as much as Harry Potter did. I love J.K. Rowling and I wish to meet her someday.

   She is one of the greatest writers of our century. She has made me a naughty girl into a book lover. Also, her book holds a very special place in the hearts of those who have read them.

   She made Harry Potter. She's awesome.

5. J. R. R. Tolkien

   

   John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (3 January 1892 - 2 September 1973), known by his pen name J. R. R. Tolkien, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor.

   He is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. Tolkien's... read more

   Why the heck is he so low? Number one suits him better. Rowling's books promote witchcraft, and Harry Potter should be burned. It is a disgrace to UK books. Rowling absolutely should not be there. It should be J.R.R. Tolkien up there.

   Only idiots read Harry Potter and like it. Those who read LOTR choose the right books. LOTR is supreme and should be the best book ever in all of the history of the universe. And who is this Jane Austen lady? Anyway, there is no reason he should be low. Just because he died in 1973 doesn't mean you get to disgrace him. His literature and books are supreme, superb, superior, and the most awesome book series ever. It consists of great characters, settings, names, things, etc. His books are the best of the best.

   The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are the greatest books (other than the Holy Bible) ever written. He is the Father of Fantasy. Who doesn't like him? TOLKIEN ABOVE ROWLING!

6. Arthur Conan Doyle

   

   Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is best known for creating the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, a character who became one of the most iconic figures in crime fiction... read more

7. C.S. Lewis

   

   Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 - November 22, 1963) was a British novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, broadcaster, lecturer, and Christian apologist.

   He held academic positions at the University of Oxford, where he was a fellow and tutor in... read more

8. William Shakespeare

   

   William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He wrote approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and numerous poems. His works are still widely studied, performed, and celebrated around... read more

   William Shakespeare is the crux and the pinnacle of modern English literature. He should rank first.

   How, in the name of all that is holy, can anyone be so obtuse as to not rank Shakespeare first?

9. Virginia Woolf

   

   Adeline Virginia Woolf, born Stephen on January 25, 1882, and deceased on March 28, 1941, was an English writer. She was a central figure in the literary movement known as modernism and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous works include Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, and Orlando.

10. H. G. Wells

    

    Herbert George Wells, known as H. G. Wells, was a prolific English writer who worked in various genres, including novels, history, politics, social commentary, textbooks, and rules for war games. He is most famous for science fiction works such as The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, and The First... read more

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Dylan Thomas

    
12. ?

    Stevie Smith

    
The Contenders

13. Robert Louis Stevenson

    

    Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (November 13, 1850 to December 3, 1894) was a Scottish author renowned for his novels, poetry, essays, and travel writing. Some of his most celebrated works include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses.... read more

14. George Orwell

    

    Eric Arthur Blair (June 25, 1903 - January 21, 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic. He is best known for his books Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, which critique totalitarianism and explore themes of truth and freedom... read more

    He foretold the future as few others in history were able to...

    Agreed. He did foretell the future.

15. Sisters Bronte

    

16. Mary Shelley

    

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (née Godwin. August 30, 1797 - February 1, 1851) was an English novelist, short-story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. She is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein. Or, The Modern Prometheus, published in 1818. She also edited and promoted... read more

    There will never be a greater sociological and philosophical novel about a created and a natural human monster than "Frankenstein." N.G. Young (San Marcos, CA)

17. Roald Dahl

    

    Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916 - November 23, 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and fighter pilot. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and have been translated into many languages. He is best known for children's classics such as Charlie and... read more

    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox. Roald Dahl is the man who made me fall in love with many amazing tales and gave off some of the greatest life lessons.

18. Lewis Carroll

    

    Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. He is best known for his classic children's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Carroll also made significant contributions... read more

19. Geoffrey Chaucer

    

    Geoffrey Chaucer, born around 1343 and deceased on October 25, 1400, is often called the Father of English literature. He is widely regarded as the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. Chaucer was the first writer to be buried in what later became Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.

20. Rudyard Kipling

    

    Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 - January 18, 1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in British India, which influenced much of his work. Kipling's notable works of fiction include The Jungle Book, Kim, and many short stories, such as "The Man Who... read more

21. Oscar Wilde

    

    Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 - November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet.

    After writing in various forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his... read more

    One of, if not the greatest wit in the more than thousand-year history of the English language.

22. George MacDonald

    

23. G.K. Chesterton

    

    Gilbert Keith Chesterton KCSG (May 29, 1874 - June 14, 1936) was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown and wrote extensively on apologetics, including works such as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting... read more

24. Charlotte Bronte

    

    Charlotte Brontë (April 21, 1816 to March 31, 1855) was an English novelist and poet. She was the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who lived to adulthood and is considered a major figure in English literature.

    Her best-known work is the novel Jane Eyre, which she initially published under the... read more

25. Beatrix Potter

26. E.M. Forster

    

    Read his books and also his "Aspects of the Novel." n.g. young (San Marcos, CA)

27. Daniel Defoe