1. Top British Authors
The United Kingdom has produced some of the greatest writers in history,
including such luminaries as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austin, Joyce and Yeats. To
truly understand the legacy of the finest words ever penned in the English
language, readers should sample the opuses of several key British authors working
in different genres and within diverse eras.
John Donne
British poet John Donne took the seventeenth century by storm with his satirical,
witty courtly love-style ditties such as "The Flea" and "The Sun Rising." A change
of focus midstream in his career saw Donne putting on the priest's collar and
turning his considerable poetic talents to more serious religious themes. Donne
wrote many essays, meditations, and sermons that, by virtue of their wit and
insight, are still required reading on college campuses today.
Charles Dickens
18th-century novelist Charles Dickens added to the legacy of British authors with
his socially-conscious novels that remain some of the world's best-loved classics to
the present day. A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, and Oliver Twist are just
three notable offspring of Dicken's prolific career. Writing within the Romantic
style particular to his time, Dickens nevertheless peppered his stories with biting
satire aimed at the prevailing class system in his native London. The author
enjoyed popularity in America, largely due to two trips abroad to give public
readings of his works.
Virginia Wolfe
A leading Modernist writer of the 20th century, novelist and essayist Virginia
Wolfe was born in 1882. Wolfe published her premiere novel, The Voyage Out, in
1915, and later engendered such well-known fictional works as Mrs. Dalloway, To
the Lighthouse, and the book-length essay A Room of One's Own. Wolfe's
experimentation with stream-of-consciousness in her writings as well as her lyrical
voice have earned her a revered place among the top British authors in the English
tradition.
William Golding

2. A poet, novelist, playwright, and Nobel laureate for literature, 20th century British
author William Golding is perhaps best known for his novel Lord of the Flies. Set
on an isolated island with a cast of adolescent boys, Golding's novel explores the
base aspects of human nature in a primitive environment. The first of a dozen
novels the author would pen during his lifetime, Lord of the Flies is required
reading in many modern middle-school classrooms.
Graham Greene
A contemporary of Golding, Graham Greene began his literary career as a
journalist with such publications as The London Times. His first published novel
was entitled The Man Within. Extensive travel during his middle years came to
fruition in such novels as The Heart of the Matter and The Lawless Roads.
Witnessing the persecution of the Catholic Church during travels through Mexico
inspired Greene's most acclaimed novel, The Power and the Glory, which won
literary kudos in 1941. While a self-avowed apolitical author, Greene's novels were
often set in political hot spots, such as Vietnam, with story lines often spotlighting
oppressed populations.
Ian Fleming
Another 20th-century contemporary of Golding and Greene, Ian Fleming authored
a dozen novels and nine short stories about his most famous protagonist, James
Bond. The Bond works comprise one of the best-selling series in history, with sales
topping 100 million copies. In 1939, Fleming entered employment with Naval
Intelligence of the British Royal Navy, where he distinguished himself with
participation in and origination of several dare-devil operations. Fleming published
his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, in 1953, drawing from his own
experiences as an undercover operative to bring the well-known character to life.
John Fowles
The generation that followed that of Fleming, Greene and Golding included
novelist and essayist John Fowles. An English teacher by profession prior to
beginning his writing career, Fowles published his first novel, The Collector, in
1963. He next released a philosophical work of non-fiction entitled The Aristos,
and thereafter, his most acclaimed novel, The Magus. Both The Magus and Fowles'
later novel The French Lieutenant's Woman became feature films.
Notable recent British writers include Madeleine Wickham (a.k.a. Sophie Kinsella)

3. of the Shopaholic series, Zadie Smith of White Teeth and Jasper Fforde of The
Eyre Affair. A great many more British authors merit mention in the annals of the
top English language writers, and the joy of discovering their works is just a library
away.