The NCR Book Award for Non-Fiction, established in 1987 and sponsored by

NCR Corporation NCR Corporation, previously known as National Cash Register, is an American software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and electronic products. It manufactures self-service kiosks, point-of-sale termin ...

, 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

Samuel Johnson Prize 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. With its ...

History

The award was founded at a time when there were no major non-fiction awards in Britain comparable to the highly successful

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

for fiction. It was part of a new "golden age" of non-fiction that started in the 1980s, according to

Antony Beevor Sir Antony James Beevor, (born 14 December 1946) is a British military historian. He has published several popular historical works on the Second World War and the Spanish Civil War. Early life Born in Kensington, Beevor was educated at tw ...

. In the early 1990s, NCR was acquired by AT&T and the award became rudderless and dated; one critic said the "NCR spoke volumes of the Thatcherised values of contemporary English culturea winner-takes-all triumphalism, a boastful indifference to good writing, a corresponding obsession with design and presentation". In 1997, the award experienced an existential scandal when it was revealed the judges had used "professional readers", summaries and book reviews instead of reading all of the entries. In response, one of the previous winners,

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 Univ ...

, approached Penguin with the idea for a new award, and an anonymous benefactor was found who funded the establishment of the

(1999). Facing bad publicity and a tarnished reputation, the NCR Award closed out with ''A People's Tragedy'' in 1997.

Winners

Source 1988–1995: * 1988 David Thomson, '' Nairn in Darkness and Light'' (Hutchinson) * 1989 Joe Simpson, '' Touching the Void'' (Jonathan Cape) * 1990

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 fi ...

, '' Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution'' (Viking) * 1991

Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin (née Delavenay; born 20 June 1933) is an English journalist and biographer, known for her biographies of Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Samuel Pepys, Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft. Early life Tomalin was born Claire Dela ...

, '' The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens'' (Viking) * 1992

Jung Chang Jung Chang (, , born 25 March 1952) is a Chinese-British writer now living in London, best known for her family autobiography ''Wild Swans'', selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the People's Republic of China. Her 832-page ...

, '' Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China'' (HarperCollins) * 1993

, '' Never Again: Britain 1945-1951'' (Jonathan Cape) * 1994 John Campbell, '' Edward Heath: A Biography'' (Jonathan Cape) * 1995 Mark Hudson, '' Coming Back Brockens: A Year in a Mining Village'' (Jonathan Cape) * 1996

Eric Lomax Eric Sutherland Lomax (30 May 1919 – 8 October 2012) was a British Army officer who was sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in 1942. He is most notable for his book, '' The Railway Man'', about his experiences before, during, and after Wor ...

, '' The Railway Man'' (Jonathan Cape) * 1997

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 ...

, '' A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924'' (Jonathan Cape)

References

{{NCR Corp Awards established in 1987 1987 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards disestablished in 1997 1997 disestablishments in the United Kingdom British non-fiction literary awards NCR Corporation