The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, is an annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the

NCR Book Award The NCR Book Award for Non-Fiction, established in 1987 and sponsored by NCR Corporation, was for a time the UK's major award for non-fiction. Closing in 1997 after a period of decline and scandal, it is best remembered as the forerunner of the Sam ...

. With its motto "All the best stories are true", the prize covers current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. The competition is open to authors of any nationality whose work is published in the UK in English. The longlist, shortlist and winner is chosen by a panel of independent judges, which changes every year. Formerly named after English author and lexicographer

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, the award was renamed in 2015 after

Baillie Gifford Baillie Gifford is an investment management firm which is wholly owned by partners, all of whom work within the firm. It was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1908 and still has its headquarters in the city. It has corporate offices in New York ...

, an investment management firm and the primary sponsor. Since 2016, the annual dinner and awards ceremony has been sponsored by the

Blavatnik Family Foundation Sir Leonard Valentinovich Blavatnik, russian: Леонид Валентинович Блаватник, Leonid Valentinovich Blavatnik (born June 14, 1957) is a Ukraine-born American-British business magnate and philanthropist. As of March 202 ...

. The prize is governed by the Board of Directors of The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction Limited, a not-for-profit company. Since 2018, the Chair of the Board has been

Sir Peter Bazalgette Sir Peter Lytton Bazalgette (; born 22 May 1953) is a British television executive and producer, also active in the fields of the arts and the broader Creative Industries. Currently he is co-Chair of the Creative Industries Council, pro Chancel ...

, who succeeded Stuart Proffitt, the chair since 1999. In 2015, Toby Mundy was appointed as the Prize's first director.

History

Prior to the establishment of the Samuel Johnson Prize, Britain's premier literary award for non-fiction was the

which had been established in 1987. In 1997, the NCR Award experienced a scandal when it was revealed the judges, many of them chosen for their popularity rather than literary qualities, had used "ghost readers" and were not expected to read the books they voted on. Because of this and other problems the award ceased operations. In response, one of the previous winners of NCR Award, the historian

Peter Hennessy Peter John Hennessy, Baron Hennessy of Nympsfield, (born 28 March 1947) is an English historian and academic specialising in the history of government. Since 1992, he has been Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary Unive ...

, approached Stuart Proffitt, a Publishing Director at Penguin Press, with the idea for a new award. An anonymous benefactor was found who funded the establishment of the Prize, which was named after the English 18th-century author and lexicographer

. From its inception through 2001, the prize was independently financed by the founding benefactor. In 2002, it was taken over by the BBC and re-named the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize and managed by

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

. In 2009, the name was amended to the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction and managed by

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. The new name reflected the BBC's commitment to broadcasting coverage of the Prize on the BBC2 programme, ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...

''. In 2016, the name was changed to the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, after its new primary sponsor, the Edinburgh-based investment management company

. Prior to the 2009 name change, the winner received , and each finalist received . After 2009, the award was for the winner, and each finalist received . In February 2012, the steering committee for the prize announced that a new sponsor had been found for the prize, an anonymous philanthropist, enabling the prize money to be raised to . In 2015, funding for the prize was arranged by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, while the organisers sought new primary sponsors from 2016 onwards. In 2016, under new sponsors Baillie Gifford, the prize money was restored to for the winner. In 2019, following the announcement that Baillie Gifford will sponsor the award until at least 2026, the prize money was increased to £50,000. It is widely recognised as the UK's most prestigious award for non-fiction authors.

Winners and shortlists

A blue ribbon () denotes the winner.

2020s

2022

The longlist of 12 titles was announced on 22 September 2022, having been postponed from 12 September because of the

death of Queen Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...

. The shortlist was announced on 10 October: *

Caroline Elkins Caroline Elkins (American, born Caroline Fox, 1969) is Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Harvard University, the Thomas Henry Carroll/Ford Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, ...

, ''Legacy of Violence'': ''A History of the British Empire'' (The Bodley Head, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK) *

Jonathan Freedland Jonathan Saul Freedland (born 25 February 1967) is a British journalist who writes a weekly column for ''The Guardian''. He presents BBC Radio 4's contemporary history series ''The Long View''. Freedland also writes thrillers, mainly under the ...

, ''The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World'' (John Murray Press, Hachette) * Sally Hayden, ''My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World's Deadliest Migration Route'' (4th Estate, HarperCollins) *

Anna Keay Anna Julia Keay, (born August 1974 in the West Highlands of Scotland), is a British architectural historian, author and television personality and director of The Landmark Trust since 2012. Early life and education Keay grew up in a remote ho ...

, ''The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown'' (William Collins, Harper Collins) * Polly Morland, ''A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story'' (Picador, Pan Macmillan) *

Katherine Rundell Katherine Rundell (born 1987) is an English author and academic. She is the author of ''Rooftoppers'', which in 2015 won both the overall Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story, and was short-listed for t ...

, ''Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne'' (Faber & Faber) The winner was announced on 17 November. The judges were

Caroline Sanderson Caroline Sanderson is a British non-fiction author and books journalist. Since 2000 she has written non-fiction previews for ''The Bookseller'', where she is associate editor. She has published books about Adele, Jane Austen and children's games, a ...

(chair),

Laura Spinney Laura Spinney (born August 1971) is a British science journalist, novelist, and non-fiction writer whose 2017 book ''Pale Rider'' is an account of the 1918 influenza pandemic. Education Spinney graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in N ...

Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, and is the daughter of a university lecturer. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11, before returning to Sheffield, and atten ...

Clive Myrie Clive Myrie (born 25 August 1964) is a British journalist, newsreader and presenter who works for the BBC. Since August 2021 he has been the host of the long-running BBC quiz shows ''Mastermind'' and '' Celebrity Mastermind''. Early life Myrie ...

Samanth Subramanian Samanth Subramanian is an Indian writer and journalist based in London. He studied journalism at Penn State University and international relations at Columbia University. In 2018–19, he was a Leon Levy Fellow at the City University of New York. H ...

and

Georgina Godwin Georgina may refer to: Names * Georgina (name), a feminine given name Places Australia * Georgina, Queensland, a locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland * Georgina Basin, a large sedimentary basin in Australia * Georgina River, a riv ...

2021

Patrick Radden Keefe Patrick Radden Keefe (born 1976) is an American writer and investigative journalist. He is the author of five books—''Chatter,'' ''The Snakehead,'' '' Say Nothing,'' '' Empire of Pain,'' and ''Rogues''—and has written extensively for many pub ...

, '' Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty'' *

Cal Flyn Cal Flyn is a Scottish author and journalist. Early life Flyn was born in Inverness, Scotland. She attended Charleston Academy, a state secondary school. As a child, she underwent orthopedic surgery to correct proximal femoral focal deficiency ...

, ''Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape'' *

Harald Jähner Harald Jähner (born March 26, 1953) is a German journalist and author. Since 2011 he has been an honorary professor of cultural journalism at the Berlin University of the Arts. Biography Jähner studied literature, history and art history in ...

, ''Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955 '' *

Kei Miller Kei Miller (born 24 October 1978) is a Jamaican poet, fiction writer, essayist and blogger. He is also a professor of creative writing.John Preston, ''Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell '' *

Lea Ypi Lea Ypi (born 8 September 1979) is an Albanian author and academic. She is a professor of political theory at the London School of Economics. She is a member of the jury of the Deutscher Memorial Prize. Personal life Ypi was born in Tirana, the ...

, ''Free: Coming of Age at the End of History '' The shortlist of six titles was announced on 15 October 2021. The judging panel consisted of Andrew Holgate, Sara Collins, Helen Czerski, Kathryn Hughes, Johny Pitts and Dominic Sandbrook

2020

* Craig Brown, '' One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time'' (Harper Collins, 4th Estate) *

Matthew Cobb Matthew Cobb (born 4 February 1957) is a British zoologist and professor of zoology at the University of Manchester. He is known for his popular science books ''The Egg & Sperm Race: The Seventeenth-Century Scientists Who Unravelled the Secrets o ...

, ''The Idea of the Brain: A History'' (Profile Books) * Sudhir Hazareesingh, ''Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture'' (Penguin Random House, Allen Lane) * Christina Lamb, ''Our Bodies, Their Battlefield: What War Does to Women'' (Harper Collins, William Collins) *

Amy Stanley Amy Stanley is an American historian of early modern Japan. In 2007, Stanley began teaching in the Department of History at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Japanese history, ...

, ''Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Woman's Life in Nineteenth-Century Japan'' (Vintage, Chatto & Windus) *

Kate Summerscale Kate Summerscale (born 1965) is an English writer and journalist. Biography Summerscale was brought up in Japan, England and Chile. After attending Bedales School (1978–1983), she took a double-first at Oxford University and an MA in jour ...

, '' The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, Bloomsbury Circus) The shortlist of six titles was announced on 15 October 2020. The judging panel consisted of

Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme ''The World at One'' for 11 years, and in April 2018 became a presenter of the ear ...

(BBC Radio presenter),

Shahidha Bari Shahidha Bari is a British academic, critic and broadcaster, born 1980. She is a professor at the University of the Arts London based at London College of Fashion. She is a host of the topical arts television programme ''Inside Culture'' on BBC ...

(writer and radio presenter),

Simon Ings Simon Ings is an English novelist and science writer living in London. He was born in July 1965 in Horndean and educated at Churcher's College, Petersfield and at King's College London and Birkbeck College, London. Ings has written a number o ...

(writer and editor), Leo Robson (writer), Max Strasser (editor) and Bee Wilson (journalist and writer).

2010s

2019

Casey Cep Casey Cep is an American author and journalist. Cep is a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'', and her work has appeared in ''The New York Times'', The Paris Review, ''The New Republic'', and other publications. Cep's debut non-fiction book, publish ...

, ''Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee'' *

Laura Cumming Laura Cumming is the art critic of ''The Observer'' newspaper, a position she has held since 1999. Before that she worked for ''The Guardian'', the ''New Statesman'' and the BBC. In addition to her career in journalism, Cumming has written well-r ...

, ''On Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing Persons'' *

William Feaver William Feaver (born 1 December 1942) is a British art critic, curator, artist and lecturer. From 1975–1998 he was the chief art critic of the Observer, and from 1994 a visiting professor at Nottingham Trent University. His book ''The Pitmen P ...

, ''The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth'' *

Julia Lovell Julia Lovell (born 1975) is a British scholar and prize-winning author and translator focusing on China. Life and career Lovell is professor of Modern Chinese History and Literature at Birkbeck, University of London, where her research has bee ...

, ''Maoism: A Global History'' *

Azadeh Moaveni Azadeh Moaveni (Persian: آزاده معاونى, born 1976) is an Iranian-American writer, journalist, and academic. She directs the Gender and Conflict Program at the International Crisis Group, and lectures on journalism at New York Universi ...

, ''Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS'' *

Hallie Rubenhold Hallie Rubenhold (born 1971 in Los Angeles) is an American-born British historian and author. Her work specializes in 18th and 19th century social history and women's history. Her 2019 book '' The Five'', about the lives of the women murdered b ...

, '' The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper'' The longlist of 12 titles was announced on 12 September 2019. The shortlist was announced on 22 October 2019. The judging panel was chaired by ''

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' editor

Stig Abell Stephen "Stig" Paul Abell (born 10 April 1980) is an English journalist, newspaper editor and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the Monday to Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio with Aasmah Mir. Abell was from 2016 to 2020 editor o ...

, with

Myriam François Dr Myriam Francois is an award-winning Franco-Irish journalist, filmmaker and writer. Her work has appeared on BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, and numerous other outlets and publications. Myriam is the founder and CEO of production companmpwr product ...

, TV producer and writer; Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, professor of English Literature; Frances Wilson, critic and biographer;

Petina Gappah Petina Gappah (born 1971) is a Zimbabwean lawyer and writer. She writes in English, though she also draws on Shona, her first language. In 2016, she was named African Literary Person of the Year by ''Brittle Paper''. In 2017 she had a DAAD Arti ...

, writer and lawyer and Alexander Van Tulleken, doctor and TV presenter.

2018

Hannah Fry Hannah Fry (born February 1984) is a British mathematician, author, and radio and television presenter. She is Professor in the Mathematics of Cities at the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. She studies the patterns of human behaviour, ...

, ''Hello World: How to Be Human in the Age of the Machine'' * Ben Macintyre, ''The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War'' * Thomas Page McBee, ''

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

: A True Story About What Makes a Man'' * Stephen Platt, ''Imperial Twilight: The Opium War and the End of China's Last Golden Age'' *

Serhii Plokhii Serhii Plokhy, or Plokhii ( uk, Сергій Миколайович Плохій, russian: Серге́й Никола́евич Пло́хий; born 23 May 1957) is the Mykhailo Hrushevsky professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard University, whe ...

, ''Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy'' *

Carl Zimmer Carl Zimmer (born 1966) is a popular science writer, blogger, columnist, and journalist who specializes in the topics of evolution, parasites, and heredity. The author of many books, he contributes science essays to publications such as ''The Ne ...

, ''She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions and Potential of Heredity'' The longlist was not publicly announced. The shortlist was announced on 2 October 2018. The 2018 judging panel was chaired by ''The Economist's'' culture correspondent, Fiammetta Rocco, with

Stephen Bush Stephen Kupakwesu Bush (born 21 March 1990) is a British journalist. He is columnist and associate editor at the ''Financial Times'' and has also written for ''The Guardian'', ''The Telegraph,'' '' i'' and ''New Statesman''. Early life and educ ...

, journalist and political commentator;

Susan Brigden Susan Elizabeth Brigden, FRHistS, FBA (born 26 June 1951) is a historian and academic specialising in the English Renaissance and Reformation. She was Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Lincoln College, b ...

, historian;

Anne-Marie Imafidon Anne-Marie Osawemwenze Ore-Ofe Imafidon (born 24 June 1990) is a British-Nigerian computer scientist. Imafidon founded and became CEO of Stemettes in 2013, a social enterprise promoting women in STEM careers. She was a computing, mathematics a ...

, mathematician and campaigner; and

Nigel Warburton Nigel Warburton (; born 1962) is a British philosopher. He is best known as a populariser of philosophy, having written a number of books in the genre, but he has also written academic works in aesthetics and applied ethics. Education Warburton r ...

, philosopher.

2017

* David France, ''How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS'' *

Christopher de Bellaigue Christopher de Bellaigue (born 1971 in London) is a journalist who has worked on the Middle East and South Asia since 1994. His work mostly chronicles developments in Iran and Turkey. Biography De Bellaigue, who attended Eton College, is from an ...

, ''The Islamic Enlightenment: The Modern Struggle Between Faith and Reason'' *

Kapka Kassabova Kapka Kassabova (born in November 1973, in Bulgarian Капка Касабова) is a poet and writer of fiction and narrative non-fiction. Her mother tongue is Bulgarian, but she writes in English. Life Kapka Kassabova was born and grew up in S ...

, ''Border: A Journey to The Edge of Europe'' *

Daniel Mendelsohn Daniel Mendelsohn (born 1960), is an American author, essayist, critic, columnist, and translator. Best known for his internationally best-selling and award-winning Holocaust family memoir The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, he is curre ...

, ''An Odyssey: A Father, A Son and An Epic'' * Mark O'Connell, '' To Be A Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death'' *

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He fir ...

, ''Belonging: The Story of the Jews, 1492-1900'' The longlist was announced on 8 September and the shortlist was announced on 6 October. The 2017 judging panel was chaired by chaired by author and Chairman of ITV Sir

Peter Bazalgette Sir Peter Lytton Bazalgette (; born 22 May 1953) is a British television executive and producer, best known for producing over 3000 episodes of BBC's Food and Drink and Ready, Steady, Cook. He was elected President of the Royal Television Societ ...

, together with

Anjana Ahuja Anjana Ahuja ( अंजना आहूजा ) is a British Indian science journalist and a former columnist for ''The Times''. She is now a contributing writer at the ''Financial Times''. She also contributes to ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Pros ...

, science writer;

Ian Bostridge Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. Early life and education Bostridge was born in London, the son of Leslie Bostridge and Lillian (née Clark). ...

, tenor and writer; Professor

Sarah Churchwell Sarah Bartlett Churchwell (born May 27, 1970) is a professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK. Her expertise is in 20th- and 21st-century American literature ...

, academic and writer and

Razia Iqbal Razia Iqbal (born 1962) is a journalist employed by BBC News. She is a special correspondent, reporting for outlets across the BBC. From 2011 Iqbal has also presented '' Newshour'' on the BBC World Service. She has also presented ''Talking Bo ...

, journalist and broadcaster.

2016

:' *

Philippe Sands Philippe Joseph Sands, KC (born 17 October 1960) is a British and French writer and lawyer a11 King's Bench Walkand Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London. A specialist in ...

, '' East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity'' *

Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich (born 31 May 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suf ...

, ''Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets'' *

Margo Jefferson Margo Lillian Jefferson (born October 17, 1947) is an American writer and academic. Biography Jefferson received her B.A. from Brandeis University, where she graduated ''cum laude'', and her M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of ...

, '' Negroland: A Memoir'' *

Hisham Matar Hisham Matar ( ar, هشام مطر) (born 1970) is an American born British-Libyan writer. His memoir of the search for his father, '' The Return'', won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and the 2017 PEN America Jean Stein Bo ...

, '' The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between'' The longlist was announced on 21 September and the shortlist was announced on 17 October. The 2016 judging panel was chaired by former BBC Economics Editor Stephanie Flanders, together with

Philip Ball Philip Ball (born 1962) is a British science writer. For over twenty years he has been an editor of the journal ''Nature'' for which he continues to write regularly. He now writes a regular column in '' Chemistry World''. He has contributed to ...

, science writer and author; Jonathan Derbyshire, executive comment editor of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''; Dr Sophie Ratcliffe, scholar, writer and literary critic and

Rohan Silva Rohan may refer to: Places * Rohan, Morbihan, a French commune in Brittany * Château des Rohan (Mutzig), France * Żebbuġ, Malta, also known as Città Rohan ** De Rohan Arch, a commemorative arch in Żebbuġ * Palais Rohan, Bordeaux, France * P ...

, co-founder of the social enterprise, Second Home.

2015

Steve Silberman Steve Silberman is an American writer for ''Wired'' magazine and has been an editor and contributor there for 14 years. In 2010, Silberman was awarded the AAAS "Kavli Science Journalism Award for Magazine Writing." His featured article "The Pla ...

, ''Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently'' *

Jonathan Bate Sir Andrew Jonathan Bate, CBE, FBA, FRSL (born 26 June 1958), is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, poet, playwright, novelist and scholar. He specialises in Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is Foundation Profes ...

, ''Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life'' * Robert Macfarlane, ''Landmarks'' *

Laurence Scott Captain Laurence Henry Scott (born 9 March 1896, date of death unknown) was a British World War I flying ace credited with six aerial victories. Military service Scott first served as a private in the 14th (County of London) Battalion, The Lo ...

, ''The Four-Dimensional Human: Ways of Being in the Digital World'' *

Emma Sky Emma Sky, OBE is a British expert on conflict, reconciliation and stability, who has worked mainly in the Middle East. She served in Iraq as the political advisor to US General Ray Odierno and General David Petraeus during the surge. She is di ...

, ''The Unravelling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq'' *

, ''This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan Civil War'' The longlist for the 2015 prize was announced on 22 September and the shortlist was announced on 11 October. The 2015 judging panel was chaired by Pulitzer prize-winning historian and journalist

Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at ''The Econo ...

, together with Editor of '' Intelligent Life'' Emma Duncan, Editor of ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

'' Sumit Paul-Choudhury, Director of China Centre at Oxford University Professor

Rana Mitter Shantashil Rajyeswar Mitter (born 1969), known as Rana Mitter, is a British historian and political scientist of Indian origin who specialises in the history of republican China. He is Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at t ...

and former Controller of Film and Drama and Head of

Film 4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...

Tessa Ross Tessa Sarah Ross CBE (born 1961) is an English film producer and executive. She was appointed Head of Film at Channel 4 in 2000 and ran Film4 and Film4 Productions from 2002 to 2014. Ross was appointed to the Board of the Royal National Theatre ...

2014

* Helen Macdonald, ''

H is for Hawk ''H is for Hawk'' is a 2014 memoir by British author Helen Macdonald. It won the Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book of the Year award, among other honours. Content ''H is for Hawk'' tells Macdonald's story of the year she spent training a n ...

'' * John Campbell, ''Roy Jenkins: A Biography'' *

Marion Coutts Marion Coutts (born 1965) is a British sculptor, photographer, filmmaker, author, and musician, known for her work as an installation artist and her decade as frontwoman for the band Dog Faced Hermans. In 2014 she published her critically acclaim ...

, ''The Iceberg: A Memoir'' *

Greg Grandin Greg Grandin (born 1962) is a professor of history at Yale University. He previously taught at New York University. He is author of a number of books, including ''Fordlândia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City'', which was ...

, ''The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World'' *

Alison Light Alison Light, (born 4 August 1955) is a writer, critic and independent scholar. She is the author of five books to date. In 2020 ''A Radical Romance'', was awarded the Pen Ackerley prize, the only prize for memoir in the UK. ''Common People: ...

, ''Common People: The History of an English Family'' * Caroline Moorehead, '' Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France'' The longlist was announced on 1 September 2014. The shortlist was announced on 8 October 2014. The 2014 judging panel was chaired by author and historian Claire Tomalin, accompanied by Alan Johnson MP, Financial Times Books Editor Lorien Kite, philosopher Ray Monk and historian Ruth Scurr.

2013

Lucy Hughes-Hallett Lucy Angela Hughes-Hallett (born 7 December 1951) is a British cultural historian, biographer and novelist. In November 2013, she won the Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction for her biography of the Italian writer Gabriele D'Annunzio, ''The Pike ...

, '' The Pike: Gabriele D'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War'' * David Crane, ''Empires of the Dead: How One Man's Vision led to the Creation of WWI's World Graves'' *

William Dalrymple William Dalrymple may refer to: * William Dalrymple (1678–1744), Scottish Member of Parliament * William Dalrymple (moderator) (1723–1814), Scottish minister and religious writer * William Dalrymple (British Army officer) (1736–1807), Scott ...

, '' Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan'' *

Dave Goulson Dave Goulson (born 30 July 1965) is Professor of Biology (Evolution, Behaviour and Environment) at the University of Sussex. Specializing in the ecology and conservation of insects, particularly bumblebees, Goulson is the author of several bo ...

, ''A Sting in the Tale: My Adventures with Bumblebees'' *

Charlotte Higgins Charlotte Higgins, (born 6 September 1972) is a British writer and journalist. Early life and education Higgins was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the daughter of a doctor and a nurse, and received her secondary education at a local independent sc ...

, ''Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain'' * Charles Moore, '' Margaret Thatcher: The Authorised Biography'' The longlist, which was announced on 6 September 2013, featured 18 books. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reported that this year, judges showed a preference for history and biography, at the expense of works in science. On 30 September, judges announced the shortlist. The 2013 judging panel was chaired by the cosmologist and Astronomer Royal,

Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 23 June 1942) is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He is the fifteenth Astronomer Royal, ...

, accompanied by classical historian Mary Beard, director of Liberty

Shami Chakrabarti Sharmishta "Shami" Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, (born 16 June 1969) is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promotes ...

, historian

and the writer and critic James McConnachie.

2012

* Wade Davis, '' Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest'' *

Katherine Boo Katherine "Kate" J. Boo (born August 12, 1964) is an American investigative journalist who has documented the lives of people in poverty. She has won the MacArthur "genius" award (2002) and the National Book Award for Nonfiction (2012), and her wo ...

, '' Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum'' * Robert Macfarlane, '' The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot'' *

Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist, psycholinguist, popular science author, and public intellectual. He is an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. P ...

, '' The Better Angels of our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity'' *

Paul Preston Sir Paul Preston CBE (born 21 July 1946) is an English historian and Hispanist, biographer of Francisco Franco, and specialist in Spanish history, in particular the Spanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 30 years. He is the win ...

, '' The Spanish Holocaust: Inquisition and Extermination in Twentieth-Century Spain'' *

Sue Prideaux Sue Prideaux is an Anglo-Norwegian writer. Her grandmother was muse to the explorer Roald Amundsen and her godmother was painted by Edvard Munch, whose biography she later wrote under the title ''Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream''. Awards and dis ...

, '' Strindberg: A Life'' The longlist was announced 17 September 2012, the shortlist was announced 5 October. The winner was announced 12 November. The monetary prize for 2012 was £20,000 for the winner. The judges were David Willetts, Patrick French, Paul Laity, Bronwen Maddox, Raymond Tallis.

2011

Frank Dikötter Frank Dikötter (; ) is a Dutch historian who specialises in modern China. Dikötter has been Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong since 2006. Before relocating to Hong Kong, he was Professor of the Modern History of Ch ...

, '' Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–1962'' *

Andrew Graham-Dixon Andrew Michael Graham-Dixon (born 26 December 1960) is a British art historian and broadcaster. Life and career Early life and education Andrew Graham-Dixon is a son of the barrister Anthony Philip Graham-Dixon (1929–2012), Q.C., and ...

, '' Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane'' (biography of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

) *

Maya Jasanoff Maya R. Jasanoff is an American academic. She serves as Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University, where she focuses on the history of Britain and the British Empire. Early life Jasanoff grew up in Ithaca, New York and comes from a f ...

, '' Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World'' *

Matt Ridley Matthew White Ridley, 5th Viscount Ridley, (born 7 February 1958), is a British science writer, journalist and businessman. He is known for his writings on science, the environment, and economics and has been a regular contributor to ''Th ...

, '' The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves'' *

Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Steinberg (8 March 1934 – 4 March 2021) was the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of European History Emeritus and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Career Steinberg received his undergraduate degree ...

, '' Bismarck: A Life'' (biography of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

) * John Stubbs, '' Reprobates: The Cavaliers of the English Civil War'' The longlist was announced April 2011. The shortlist was announced 14 June 2011. The judges were David Goodhart, Sam Leith, Ben Macintyre, Brenda Maddox, Amanda Vickery.

2010

Barbara Demick Barbara Demick is an American journalist. She was the Beijing bureau chief of the ''Los Angeles Times''. She is the author of ''Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood'' (Andrews & McMeel, 1996). Her second book, '' Nothing to En ...

, '' Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea'' *

Alex Bellos Alexander Bellos (born 1969) is a British writer, broadcaster and mathematics communicator.Alex Bellos He is the author of books about Brazil and mathematics, as well as having a column in ''The Guardian'' newspaper. Education and early lif ...

, '' Alex's Adventures in Numberland: Dispatches from the Wonderful World of Mathematics'' *

Luke Jennings Luke Jennings (born 1953) is a British author, dance critic and journalist. Jennings trained as a dancer at the Rambert School, was one of the students of the Expressionist and Integrated dance pedagoge Hilde Holger, studied Indian languages, an ...

, '' Blood Knots: On Fathers, Friendship and Fishing'' *

Andrew Ross Sorkin Andrew Ross Sorkin (born February 19, 1977) is an American journalist and author. He is a financial columnist for ''The New York Times'' and a co-anchor of CNBC's ''Squawk Box.'' He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news s ...

, '' Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves'' *

Jenny Uglow Jennifer Sheila Uglow (, (accessed 5 February 2008).
(accessed 19 August 2022). born 1947) is an English biographer, hi ...

, '' A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration'' *

Richard Wrangham Richard Walter Wrangham (born 1948) is an English anthropologist and primatologist; he is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. His research and writing have involved ape behavior, human evolution, violence, and cooking. ...

, '' Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human'' The longlist was announced 22 April 2010. The shortlist was announced 26 May. The judges were Evan Davis, Jan Dalley, Daniel Finkelstein, Roger Highfield, Stella Tillyard.

2000s

2009

:' *

Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme a ...

, ''Leviathan or, The Whale'' *

Liaquat Ahamed Liaquat Ahamed (born 14 November 1952 in Kenya) is an American author. Life and work Liaquat Ahamed was born in Kenya, where his grandfather had emigrated to from Gujarat by way of Zanzibar in the late 19th century.Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World'' *

Ben Goldacre Ben Michael Goldacre (born 20 May 1974) is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford ...

, '' Bad Science'' *

David Grann David Elliot Grann (born March 10, 1967) is an American journalist, a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and a best-selling author. His first book, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon,'' was published by D ...

, '' The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon'' * Richard Holmes, '' The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science'' *

Manjit Kumar Manjit Kumar (born 1963) wrote the popular science book ''Quantum'' which was shortlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, 2009. and was also co-author of the book ''Science and the Retreat from Reason''. He has degrees in physic ...

, '' Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality'' The longlist was announced 14 May 2009. The shortlist was announced in late May. The judges announced the winner of the prize at an awards event at

King's Place Kings Place is a building in London’s Kings Cross area, providing music and visual arts venues combined with seven floors of office space. It has housed the editorial offices of ''The Guardian'' newspaper since December 2008 and is the fo ...

, London on 30 June. The monetary prize for 2009 was £20,000 for the winner, and each finalist receives £1000. The judges were Mark Lythgoe, Tim Marlow, Munira Mirza, Sarah Sands, Jacob Weisberg.

2008

, ''

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or the Murder at Road Hill House ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' *

Tim Butcher Tim Butcher (born 15 November 1967) is an English author, broadcaster and journalist. He is the author of '' Blood River'' (2007), ''Chasing the Devil'' (2010) and ''The Trigger'' (2014), travel books blending contemporary adventure with history ...

, '' Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart'' *

Mark Cocker Mark Cocker (born 1959) is a British author and naturalist. He lives with his wife, Mary Muir, and two daughters in Claxton, Norfolk; the countryside around Claxton is a theme for two of his twelve books. Cocker has written extensively for ...

, ''Crow Country'' *

Orlando Figes Orlando Guy Figes () is a British historian and writer. Until his retirement, he was Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Figes is known for his works on Russian history, such as '' A People's Tragedy'' (1996), ''Nata ...

, ''The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia'' * Patrick French, ''The World Is What It Is: The Authorised Biography of VS Naipaul'' * Alex Ross (music critic), Alex Ross, ''The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century'' The longlist was announced on 16 April 2008, the shortlist on 15 May 2008, and the winner on 15 July 2008. The judges were Claire Armitstead, Daljit Nagra, Chris Rapley, Hannah Rothschild, Rosie Boycott.

2007

* Rajiv Chandrasekaran, ''Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone'' * Ian Buruma, ''Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance'' *

, ''Having it so Good: Britain in the Fifties'' * Georgina Howell, ''Daughter of the Desert: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell'' (about Gertrude Bell) * Dominic Streatfeild, ''Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control'' * Adrian Tinniswood, ''The Verneys: A True Story of Love, War, and Madness in Seventeenth-Century England'' The longlist and shortlist were announced in late 2007. The judges were Helena Kennedy, Diana Athill, Jim Al-Khalili, Tristram Hunt, Mark Lawson.

2006

* James S. Shapiro, ''1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare'' * Alan Bennett, ''Untold Stories'' * Jerry Brotton, ''The Sale of the Late King's Goods: Charles I and his Art Collection'' * Carmen Callil, ''Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family & Fatherland'' * Tony Judt, ''Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945'' * Tom Reiss, ''The Orientalist: In Search of a Man Caught between East and West'' The longlist was announced 27 March 2006 and shortlist was announced 24 May 2006. The judges were Robert Winston, Sir Richard Eyre, Pankaj Mishra, Cristina Odone, Michael Prodger.

2005

* Jonathan Coe, ''Like A Fiery Elephant: The Story of B. S. Johnson'' * Alexander Masters, ''Stuart: A Life Backwards'' * Suketu Mehta, ''Maximum City, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found'' * Orhan Pamuk, ''Istanbul: Memories and the City'' * Hilary Spurling, ''Matisse the Master: The Conquest of Colour 1909–1954'' (about Henri Matisse) * Sarah Wise, ''The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London'' The longlist was announced 20 April 2005 and shortlist was announced 12 May 2005. The judges were Marcus du Sautoy, Andrew Holgate, Maria Misra, John Simpson, Sue MacGregor.

2004

* Anna Funder, ''Stasiland, Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall '' *

, ''Gulag: A History, Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps'' *

, ''John Clare: A Biography'' * Bill Bryson, ''A Short History of Nearly Everything'' * Aidan Hartley, ''The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War'' * Tom Holland (author), Tom Holland, ''Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic'' The longlist was announced 19 March 2004 and later the shortlist. The judges were Aminatta Forna, Martha Kearney, Simon Singh, Francis Wheen, Michael Wood.

2003

* T. J. Binyon, ''Pushkin: A Biography'' *

, ''Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia'' * Aminatta Forna, ''The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest, The Devil that Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Memoir of her Father, her Family, her Country and a Continent'' * Olivia Judson, ''Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation, Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex'' * Claire Tomalin, ''Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self'' (about Samuel Pepys) * Edgar Vincent, ''Nelson: Love and Fame'' (about Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Lord Nelson) The longlist was announced 1 April 2003 and the shortlist on 2 May 2003. The judges were Michael Portillo, Tim Radford, Andrew Roberts, Fiammetta Rocco, Rosie Boycott.

2002

:' * Margaret MacMillan, ''Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War'' * Eamon Duffy, ''The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village'' * William Fiennes (author), William Fiennes, ''The Snow Geese'' * Richard Hamblyn, ''The Invention of Clouds: How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies'' * Roy Jenkins, ''Churchill: a Biography'' (about Winston Churchill) * Brendan Simms, ''Unfinest Hour: Britain and the Destruction of Bosnia'' The longlist was announced 21 May 2002 and the shortlist was announced 6 June 2002. The judges were Richard Fortey, Caroline Gascoigne, Bonnie Greer, Robert Harris, David Dimbleby.

2001

* Michael Burleigh, ''The Third Reich: A New History'' * Richard Fortey, ''Trilobite!: Eyewitness to Evolution'' * Catherine Merridale, ''Night of Stone: Death and Memory in Russia'' * Graham Robb, ''Rimbaud'' (about Arthur Rimbaud) * Simon Sebag Montefiore, ''Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin'' (about Grigory Potemkin) * Robert Skidelsky, ''John Maynard Keynes: Fighting for Britain, 1937–1946'' (about John Maynard Keynes) The shortlist was announced 23 May 2001. The judges were Niall Ferguson, Steve Jones, Annalena McAfee, Suzanna Taverne, Andrew Marr.

2000

* David Cairns (writer), David Cairns, ''Berlioz: Volume 2'' * Tony Hawks, ''Playing the Moldovans at Tennis'' * Brenda Maddox, ''Yeats's Ghosts: The Secret Life of W.B. Yeats'' (about W. B. Yeats) *

, ''Genome (book), Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters'' * William Shawcross, ''Deliver us from Evil: Warlords, Peacekeepers and a World of Endless Conflict'' * Francis Wheen, ''Karl Marx'' (about Karl Marx) The shortlist. The judges were Stephen Fry, Timothy Garton Ash, Susan Greenfield, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Nigella Lawson.

1990s

1999

* Antony Beevor, ''Stalingrad (Beevor book), Stalingrad'' * Ian Kershaw, ''Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris'' (about Adolf Hitler) * Ann Wroe, ''Pilate: The Biography of an Invented Man'' (about Pontius Pilate) * John Diamond (journalist), John Diamond, ''C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too'' * Richard Holmes (historian), Richard Holmes, ''Coleridge: Darker Reflections'' (about Samuel Taylor Coleridge) * David Landes, ''The Wealth and Poverty of Nations'' The shortlist. The judges were Cherie Booth, Orlando Figes, Kate Summerscale, James Naughtie.

Notes

External links

* * * {{Samuel Johnson British non-fiction literary awards Awards established in 1999 Samuel Johnson BBC awards 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom