The Samuel Johnson Prize 2008
Shortlist for the UK’s Most Prestigious Non-Fiction Literary Award
Sponsored by BBC Four, the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction seeks to reward the best of non-fiction writing and is open to authors of any nationality who have been published in the UK. Non-fiction books in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts are eligible for consideration for the Prize.
The winner of the 2008 Prize will be announced at the televised awards ceremony at London’s South Bank Centre on 15th July. The winner will receive £30,000 while each of the shortlisted authors will receive £1000 each.
The shortlist for the 2008 award:
Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart by Tim Butcher
(Vintage, 978-0099494287)
Tim Butcher was a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph when he was sent to Africa in 2000. Once there, Butcher became obsessed by the idea of recreating the legendary expedition of H.M. Stanley as a solo journey. Setting out for the Congo’s eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars to his name, Butcher’s journey and the characters that he meets along the way is a truly remarkable story.
Crow Country by Mark Cocker
(Jonathan Cape, 978-0224076012)
Since moving to the Norfolk Broads, Mark Cocker has had an obsession with corvids, the group of birds more commonly known as ‘crows’. In Crow Country, Cocker travels across the UK seeking an insight into the history and present situation of crows and, just as importantly, into the relationship between people and nature.
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin’s Russia by Orlando Figes
(Allen Lane, 978-0713997026)
Through interviews and information found in family archives, Orlando Figes tells the story of how ordinary Russians lived during the time of Stalin, a time when a single action or unwise phrase could bring about disaster for an entire family.
The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul by Patrick French
(Picador, 978-0330433501)
Having been granted unprecedented access to V.S. Naipaul’s private papers and personal recollections, Patrick French has produced an epic and insightful biography of one of the most compelling literary figures of the last fifty years.
The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross
(Fourth Estate, 978-1841154756)
Alex Ross, a music critic for the New Yorker, has produced a fascinating history of classical music in the twentieth century, beginning with a production of Richard Strauss’s Salome in 1906 (a performance attended by Puccini, Berg and Adolf Hitler amongst others) and carrying on through to the impact of the rock music of the sixties and seventies.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
(Bloomsbury, 978-0747582157)
One summer’s morning in 1860, the Kent family awoke to discover that a gruesome murder had taken place in their home. Celebrated Scotland Yard detective Jack Whicher is dispatched to interview the grieving family and discover which, if any, of them is responsible for a crime that shocked the nation. This is the true story that inspired a generation of mystery writers.
