The Baillie Gifford Prize, a U.K. award that honors excellence in nonfiction books, revealed the shortlist for its special “winner of winners” prize.
The award is being given in honor of the prize’s 25th anniversary, and the six finalists have all previously won the Baillie Gifford Prize for their shortlisted books.
Patrick Radden Keefe was named a finalist for Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021), about the family whose drug company brought the world OxyContin. He was joined on the shortlist by two other American authors: Barbara Demick for her 2010 book Nothing To Envy: Real Lives in North Korea (published in the U.S. as Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea) and James Shapiro for 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare (published in the U.S. as A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 in 2005).
British author Craig Brown made the shortlist for One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time (published in the U.S. as 150 Glimpses of the Beatles in 2020). Also named finalists were two Canadian authors: Wade Davis for Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest(2011) and Margaret Macmillan for Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed The World (2002).
The winner of the special award will be revealed on April 27 at an event at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
