The Greatest Authors of All Time
Ever wondered who the greatest authors of all time are? We've analyzed 759 diverse book lists to create this comprehensive ranking of literary masters. Our algorithm considers several key factors to determine each author's position:
- Book Rankings: Each author's score starts with the sum of their books' rankings from our master list.
- Number of Great Books: Authors are rewarded for having multiple highly-ranked books. The more great books an author has, the higher their overall score.
- Age of Books: Older books receive a small bonus to their score, with the maximum bonus going to books over 100 years old.
This system ensures that authors with multiple enduring works are recognized, while still giving weight to the quality of individual books. The rankings are automatically calculated and updated as new lists are added to our database.
4701. Osita Nwanevu
American journalist and writer known for political commentary and criticism; contributor to national publications.
4706. Jelani Cobb
American writer, journalist, and educator; staff writer at The New Yorker, professor and dean at Columbia Journalism School, and author of books on race, politics, and culture (including The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X).
4707. Peter Ames Carlin
American journalist and author, known for writing biographies and long-form profiles of popular musicians.
4708. James Logan
Irish-born colonial American statesman, scholar, and public official; long-time secretary and advisor to William Penn, served in several senior roles in colonial Pennsylvania including mayor of Philadelphia and chief justice.
4709. Karen E. Bender
American novelist and short-story writer.
4710. Jeff Silverman
4711. N.J. Crosskey
4712. Wes Moore
American author, social entrepreneur, television producer, and veteran; author of The Other Wes Moore and other books, former nonprofit CEO and Army captain, and politician (Governor of Maryland since 2023).
4713. Fred M. Donner
American historian and scholar of early Islamic history, professor at the University of Chicago, author of influential works on the origins of Islam and early Islamic conquests (e.g., Muhammad and the Believers; The Early Islamic Conquests).
4714. Hugh Kennedy
British historian and academic specializing in early Islamic and medieval Middle Eastern history; author of works on the early caliphates and related topics.
4715. Jonathan P. Berkey
American historian specializing in the medieval Islamic world and the Near East, known for scholarship on Islamic education, social history, and the formation of Islamic society.
4716. A.C.S. Peacock
4717. Heather Mangieri
American registered dietitian nutritionist, sports nutritionist, author, and speaker known for work in sports nutrition, media appearances, and nutrition education.
4718. Paul Farmer
American physician, medical anthropologist, and global health advocate; co-founder of Partners In Health, known for work on health equity, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and health care in Haiti and other low-resource settings.
4719. William C. Dietz
American science fiction author, primarily of military science fiction and media tie-in novels; best known for the Legion of the Damned series and the Halo tie-in novel The Flood.
4720. Eric S. Nylund
American science fiction author, best known for tie-in novels for the Halo franchise (including Halo: The Fall of Reach) and other science-fiction works.
4721. Anna Trewin
4722. Muhammad Y. Muslih
4723. Avi Shlaim
Iraqi-born Israeli-British historian of the Middle East; emeritus professor of international relations at St Antony's College, University of Oxford; associated with Israel's 'New Historians' and author of works on Israeli-Arab relations.
4724. Keith Donohue
American novelist best known for his debut novel The Stolen Child (2006). His fiction often explores identity, transformation, and the uncanny.
4725. Walid Khalidi
Palestinian historian and scholar, co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, known for research and publications on Palestinian history and the 1948 Palestinian exodus (e.g., editor of 'All That Remains').
4726. Ryan Robert
4727. David Dean Commins
American historian specializing in modern Islam and the contemporary Middle East; longtime professor of history at Dickinson College and author of works on Wahhabism and Saudi Arabia.
4728. Andrew Skurka
American long-distance backpacker, guide, photographer and author, known for long thru-hikes and for writing 'The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide.'
4729. Piri Thomas
Puerto Rican–Cuban American writer and memoirist, best known for Down These Mean Streets (1967), about growing up in Spanish Harlem and issues of race, identity, and incarceration.
4730. Michael Andor Brodeur
American journalist and critic known for covering music, film, and popular culture for The Boston Globe.
4732. Leslie Fletcher
4733. Jaroslav Hašek
Czech writer, satirist and humorist, best known as the author of the novel The Good Soldier Švejk (The Good Soldier Schweik).
4734. Mats Gustafsson
Swedish saxophonist and composer known for free jazz and experimental/improvised music; prominent figure in European avant-garde jazz and collaborator with groups such as The Thing and many international improvisers.
4735. Joe McPhee
American jazz multi-instrumentalist and composer (born 1939), prominent in free jazz and avant-garde improvisation; known for playing saxophones and brass instruments (trumpet, pocket trumpet) and for recordings such as Nation Time.
4736. Jean Tharaud
French novelist and essayist who frequently collaborated with his brother Jérôme Tharaud; together they produced many works and were prominent in early 20th-century French literature.
4737. Marlin Groft
4738. حنا مينه
Syrian novelist, regarded as one of the leading Arabic-language novelists; known for social realism and portrayals of working-class and seafaring life. Born in Latakia in 1924, he was a prolific writer until his death in 2018.
4739. Jim Winchester
4740. Tom Wiener
4741. Brian Turner
American poet, essayist, and memoirist; U.S. Army veteran and author of the poetry collection Here, Bullet and the memoir My Life as a Foreign Country.
4742. Alan Stern
American planetary scientist and space program executive, best known as the principal investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.
4743. David Ross
4744. Ben Nicholson
English painter and leading figure of 20th-century British modernism, known for his abstract and geometric compositions and white reliefs.
4745. Trib Total Media
Trib Total Media is an American regional media company based in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, that publishes local newspapers and operates news websites serving Pittsburgh and surrounding communities.
4746. John McPhee
American writer and pioneer of creative nonfiction and New Journalism, long-time contributor to The New Yorker; author of widely read works on geology, nature, and profiles such as Coming into the Country, Encounters with the Archdruid, The Control of Nature, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Annals of the Former World (1999).
4747. Glenn Beck
American conservative political commentator, radio and television host, author, and founder of the Blaze media network; known for his nationally syndicated talk radio program and for hosting a primetime show on Fox News earlier in his career.
4748. John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon
British historian and classicist who wrote on ancient Rome and Roman Britain; known for accessible studies of Roman social and political life.
4749. Max Arthur
British military historian and author best known for compiling oral histories of servicemen and veterans, including the 'Forgotten Voices' series.