This is a subjective question, as opinions will vary. Here are some of the books commonly cited as the greatest of all time: Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment (1866) J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (1954-55) William Shakespeare, Hamlet (1600) J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter series (1997-2007) George Orwell, 1984 (1949) Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877) Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813) Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea (1952)