The judges for the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize announced the longlist today, 14 May. Michael Holroyd’s first biography in fifteen years, A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and Their Remarkable Familes, is a compelling family saga of two great theatrical families, which showcases the passions and triumphs of the Victorian stages to the artistic endeavours and sexual adventures of the modern age.

 

Formerly The BBC FOUR Samuel Johnson Prize, the change in name reflects the BBC’s commitment to broadcasting coverage of the Prize on BBC TWO’s The Culture Show.

 

From a record number of entries, 166 in total, the 19 titles on the longlist range widely in interest and continue the prize’s reputation for highlighting diverse and thought-provoking books.

 

The list includes a dramatic history of Quantum theory; an honest memoir of a woman craving silence; an urgent and riveting account of bureaucrats, brothels and AIDS on the frontline of sex and drugs; and the story of the Wittgenstein family, one of the richest, most talented and most eccentric in European history.

 

Jacob Weisberg, one of America’s leading political journalists and commentators and chair of the judges, comments:

 

"The list released today is the fruit of a collective reading spree that I think I can say we've all enjoyed tremendously. All those included are distinguished, well-wrought books. Each has passionate advocates on our committee. I know how difficult it is going to be for us to whittle down to the short list over the next month."

 

Weisberg is joined on the panel by Dr Mark Lythgoeat University College London and Director of the Cheltenham Science Festival; Tim Marlow, writer, broadcaster and art historian and director of exhibitions at White Cube; Munira Mirza, Director of Policy, Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries at the Mayor of London’s office; and Sarah Sands, Deputy Editor at the London Evening Standard., neuroscientist

 

 

The shortlist will be announced in late May. The judges will announce the winner of the prize at an awards event at King’s Place, London on 30 June. The prize is worth £20,000 to the winner.

 

BBC TWO will televise the awards ceremony on a Culture Show special at 11.20pm on 30 June.

 

1999               Stalingrad by Antony Beevor (Penguin)

2000               Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness by David Cairns (The Penguin Press)

2001               The Third Reich: A New History by Michael Burleigh (Macmillan)

2002               Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 by Margaret Macmillan (John Murray)

2005               Like a Fiery Elephant by Jonathan Coe (Picador)

2006               1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro (Faber & Faber)

2007               Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran (Bloomsbury)

2008               The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury)

 

 

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