The Prize announces 2024 Longlist

The longlist for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, which celebrates the best in non-fiction writing, is announced today, Thursday 5 September.

The prize aims to recognise and reward the best of non-fiction and is open to authors of any nationality. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. The winning author will receive £50,000, with the other shortlisted authors (to be announced Thursday 10 October) receiving £5,000, bringing the total prize value to £75,000.

The longlist of 12 books were chosen by this year’s judging panel: journalist, broadcaster and founder of China Dialogue, Isabel Hilton (chair); author and investigative journalist, Heather Brooke; comment and culture editor for New Scientist, Alison Flood; culture editor of Prospect, Peter Hoskin; writer and critic, Tomiwa Owolade; and author, restaurant critic and journalist, Chitra Ramaswamy.

Their selection was made from 349 books published between 1 November 2023 and 31 October 2024.

The titles on this year’s longlist are:

Isabel Hilton, chair of judges, says:

“Reaching a longlist in a year when so many wonderful non-fiction books have been published was never going to be easy, but I could not be happier with the result. It is, of course, a list of remarkable and outstanding books, and they shed new and brilliant light on our contemporary world through explorations of history, of memory, of science and nature. Collectively this wonderful reflection of creativity, of critical thinking and great writing left us in no doubt that the non-fiction world is overflowing with energy and talent.”

The authors on this year’s longlist write about a range of topics that affect our past, present and future. One such topic is how displacement and the search for stability affect individuals and populations during systematic crises. Rachel Cockerell’s highly inventive debut, Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land, explores her family’s quest for a permanent home across two world wars and several continents. Jonathan Blitzer’s Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis navigates the humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border, exploring the lives of the hundreds of thousands of migrants that arrive there yearly and the policies shaping their fate.

Other books underscore the lingering effects of colonialism and contemporary imperialism, illustrating how historical power dynamics continue to shape the modern geopolitical landscape. In Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World, David Van Reybrouck places Indonesia’s fight for independence in its rightful global context, highlighting its impact on decolonisation movements around the world. Adam Shatz’s The Rebel’s Clinic examines the life and revolutionary ideas of Frantz Fanon, presenting a comprehensive understanding of his impact on anti-colonial movements and contemporary discussions on race and colonialism.

These themes are also explored in the context of Asia’s geopolitical history and diaspora. Gary J. Bass’ Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia untangles the complexities of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, also known as The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, highlighting themes of justice and the moral ambiguities of post-war retribution. ViệtThanh Nguyen’s A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial reflects on his own family’s refugee journey, exploring themes of identity, memory and the cultural dissonance of being both Vietnamese and American.

Along with Pulitzer Prize winner Thanh Nguyen, two Booker Prize-winning authors are represented on this year’s longlist. Richard Flanagan’s Question 7 foregrounds both personal and historical narratives, examining how individual lives are shaped by broader historical events such as the atomic bomb, as well as his own near-death experience. Salman Rushdie’s memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder presents an intimate and personal account of a world-historical event as he recovers from a near-fatal stabbing.

Humanity’s impact on the world around us is explored via two different lenses in Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario and Helen Scales’ What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World’s Ocean. Nuclear War explores what would happen, minute by minute, if a nuclear missile was launched at the Pentagon, presenting a terrifying insight into the protocols of the US national security apparatus and how split-second decisions might trigger catastrophic consequences. Helen Scales’ What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World’s Ocean focuses on the awe-inspiring power and mystery of the ocean, highlighting the delicate balance of marine ecosystems and the impact of human activity on the natural world.

Two authors are recognised by the prize for a second time: Rachel Clarke (longlisted in 2020) and Sue Prideaux (shortlisted in 2012). In Story of a Heart, Clarke tells the true story of two families connected by a heart transplant. Through an exploration of the medical advances that make such transplants possible and the moral complexities surrounding organ donation, Clarke examines the profound resilience of the human spirit and the lifesaving power of extraordinary generosity. In Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin, Prideaux considers the artist’s privileged upbringing in Peru, his tumultuous youth in France and his transformative experiences in the Paris art scene. Through these narratives, Prideaux illuminates Gauguin’s relentless pursuit of artistic freedom and his complex legacy as a trailblazing figure in the art world.

The shortlist and winner announcements

The announcement of the six books shortlisted for this year’s prize will take place on Thursday 10 October in a live event at Cheltenham Literature Festival.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 19 November at an award ceremony generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. The announcement will also be livestreamed across the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction social channels.

Last year’s winner was John Vaillant for Fire Weather.