About this list

BBC, 104 Books

This list, titled "The 100 Greatest British Novels," aims to provide an outsider's perspective on the best British literature by exclusively polling 82 book critics from outside the UK, curated by BBC Culture contributor Jane Ciabattari. The selection criteria focused on novels only, excluding nonfiction, plays, poems, and short story collections, and required the authors to be British. Each critic submitted a ranked list of 10 novels, with their top choice receiving 10 points, which were then totaled to determine the final ranking. The listing reflects a global perspective, drawing on critics from diverse regions including the United States, Europe, Australia, Africa, Asia, India, and the Middle East, comprising both literary scholars and active book reviewers from reputable publications. In total, 228 novels were nominated, from which the top 100 were selected based on the points system.

This list was originally published in 2015 and was added to this site over 9 years ago.