Ross King

Ross King is a historical fiction and nonfiction author who was born and brought up in Canada, even though he has been a resident of England since 1992. In this extraordinary novel, he showcases a magnificent tapestry of the day-to-day workings of the scaffolding at the Sistine Chapel and also the upheaval outside during the 16th century. Like many authors who write about European historical fiction, Ross King has an amazing knowledge of European cultural history.

The best place to start is the Eminent Lives series, the earliest of Ross King's multi-book series: it opens with Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time (1991) and runs to 13 books across 1991–2009, ending with George Washington (2009). Ross King's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Ross King has 55 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1991 and 2026. 44 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being the Shortest History series with 28 books — and 11 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Ross King's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Eminent Lives (1991–2009, 13 books), Shortest History (2009–2026, 28 books) and Hollywood Thriller (2022–2023, 3 books).

This guide splits Ross King's 55 books into 3 named series and 11 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Shortest History (28 books, 2009–2026); Eminent Lives (13 books, 1991–2009); Hollywood Thriller (3 books, 2022–2023).