BBC’s Big Read 10 Best Books Of All Time

We are always trying to find out the best books ever written and see where our favorite books rank. And today, we will be looking at The British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) list to see what books made their list!

The list by the BBC was made in 2003 and they wanted to find out the nation, the United Kingdom, to see what novels were the most beloved. That was done by a survey carried out by the BBC which received over three-quarters of a million votes over the course of a year.

This is still the biggest single survey of public reading taste and even led to programs hosted by celebrities talking about their favorite books. People were able to cast a vote by going on the web, texting, and even just calling in. For some reason, it is funny imagining someone waiting for calls all day for a year of people just telling them their favorite books.

The survey did have some people wondering if the BBC was sensationalizing literature for views. But supporters praised the BBC for raising public awareness of reading.

Voters were allowed to vote for any novel in the first survey. After this round was done, a list of 200 books was made and the highest 21 made it to the next round of voting. Only one novel from an author was allowed in the top 21 and Shakespeare’s works were not a part of the survey.

Now that you know how the survey was done, we can look at the list of the ten best books according to the United Kingdom. You can see the winners down below!

BBC’s Big Read 10 Best Books

• 1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
• 2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
• 3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
• 4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 
• 5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
• 6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee   
• 7. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
• 8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell   
• 9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
• 10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë   

The Lord of the Rings

It should come as little surprise that J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings topped the list. Since Tolkien is from The U.K, he is a lot more popular there. I don’t think Tolkien would top the list if it was conducted in the United States.

Another interesting thing to note is that The Hobbit wasn’t allowed to be in the top 21 because only one book was allowed per author. It easily would have cracked the top ten considering how popular both books are in the U.K.

Pride and Prejudice

Coming just behind on The Lord of the Rings is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The American novel has been a fan favorite since publication in 1813. Seeing it this high on BBC’s list is an amazing achievement and I wouldn’t be surprised if this novel was the most beloved in the U.S.

His Dark Materials

In third place comes one of my favorite series and another classic fantasy written by a British author, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. And while I love this novel, I don’t think it should be this high. This is when home field advantage skews the results of this list and proves that no list is ever truly unbiased. But then again, this is a list of the most beloved books and this what the public chose.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The fourth book on the list is the The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Douglas Adams. I loved this novel a lot and I am not surprised that it is this beloved. And again, it helps being a British author on the list.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

In fifth place is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling. The two common reactions I expect are “Finally, Harry Potter makes an appearance!” and “How did Goblet of Fire get voted as the most beloved Harry Potter book?”

To answer the first question, the main reason I think it doesn’t top the list is that the audience that read the Harry Potter books was still very young and not the typical voter. If this survey was done a decade later, Harry Potter is topping the list.

And for the second question, you have to remember that this the most recent Harry Potter book that was released at that time. This was the book that was on everyone’s mind. I would have loved to have seen how high the other three Harry Potter books made the list. But since only one novel from an author was allowed, they were excluded.

Conclusion

That is all for this list of the BBC’s Big Read 10 best books of all time. What did you think of the top ten books of the list? How many of these novels have you read? And what did you think of the United Kingdom bias? Let us know in the comments below!

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