The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2021
The UK'S PREMIER PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION BOOKS
The Baillie Gifford Prize rewards excellence in non-fiction writing, bringing the best in intelligent reflection on the world to new readers. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts.
The winner of the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize of Non-Fiction is Craig Brown for One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time (Harper Collins, 4th Estate)
The Baillie Gifford Prize podcast, Read Smart, explores the increasingly popular world of non-fiction books and follows the Prize throughout the year as it unfolds. Read Smart is hosted by BBC's Razia Iqbal and is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Learn more about the podcast here.
Key dates for the 2021 Prize:
- Longlist was announced on Thursday 9 September
- Shortlist was announced on Friday 15 October
- Winner of the prize will be announced on Tuesday 16 November
The Shortlist
- Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn
- Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955 by Harald Jähner, translated by Shaun Whiteside
- Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
- Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller
- Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell by John Preston
- Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi
The Longlist
- Consumed: A Sister's Story By Arifa Akbar
- Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn
- Minarets in the Mountains: A Journey into Muslim Europe by Tharik Hussain
- Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich, 1945–1955 by Harald Jähner, translated by Shaun Whiteside
- Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
- The Mutant Project: Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans by Eben Kirksey
- Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller
- Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell by John Preston
- Blood Legacy: Reckoning With a Family's Story of Slavery by Alex Renton
- Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera
- In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova translated by Sasha Dugdale
- Burning Man: The Ascent of DH Lawrence by Frances Wilson
- Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi
