Alex’s Adventures in Numberland
Alex Bellos
2010 The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
The 12th edition of the prize saw a highly topical, global and eclectic list of books, demonstrating "the worldiness of good non-fiction writing", with books that travelled from China and India, to Africa and the Arctic. There were four first-time authors nominated, with books covering subjects as diverse as skateboards in Iran to the secret lives of buildings.
Longlist announced
22 April 2010
Shortlist announced
26 May 2010
Winner & prize ceremony
1 July 2010
What the judges said“Nowhere will you find a better account of real life in North Korea, a society that is all too easily comically typecast by massive parades of co-ordinated flag-wavers.”
The shortlist
A prestigious shortlist of books are selected each year for the prize.
What the judges said"There is something for everyone, whether it be maths or fishing. Perhaps the only common feature of these books is the passion and sheer enthusiasm of the authors for their subjects.”
The longlist
The Baillie Gifford Prize rewards excellence in non-fiction writing
The Music Instinct
Philip Ball
Whole Earth Discipline
Stewart Brand
Making Haste from Babylon
Nick Bunker
Nine Lives
William Dalrymple
Country Driving
Peter Hessler
The Secret Lives of Buildings
Edward Hollis
Family Britain 1951 – 1957
David Kynaston
On Roads
Joe Moran
The Woman Who Shot Mussolini
Frances Stonor Saunders
When Skateboards will be Free
Said Sayrafiezadeh
Burying the Bones
Hilary Spurling
Dreams in a Time of War
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
The Magnetic North
Sara Wheeler
What the judges said"It is particularly gratifying that our selection demonstrates the worldliness of good non-fiction writing, with books that take us from China and India, to Africa and the Arctic.”
Meet the judges for 2010
The longlist, shortlist and winner is chosen by a panel of independent judges, which changes every year
Evan Davis
Former presenter of Newsnight and Radio 4’s Today Programme
Jan Dalley
Arts Editor at the Financial Times
Daniel Finkelstein
Former executive editor of The Times
Roger Highfield
Science Director at the Science Museum Group
Stella Tillyard
Winner of the 1999 Meilleur Livre Estranger prize