Author

James Clavell

James Clavell — 3 titles in the rankings, first published between 1962 and 1981. They average 8.2, above the 7.8 the whole catalogue averages.

Editor’s note Australian-born British writer and screenwriter whose Asian Saga made him a best seller. Shōgun, his most read and highest rated, follows John Blackthorne, an English navigator shipwrecked in Japan in 1600, drawn into a power struggle between feudal lords modelled on the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu; it is vast, absorbing and twice filmed for television. King Rat draws on Clavell’s own years as a prisoner of the Japanese in Changi prison in Singapore, and rates highly too.

Ranked titles: 3 books
Average score: 8.2
Total ratings: 733
First published: 1962–1981