BBC FOUR SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2007
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED

Heavyweights Tomalin, Dalrymple and Dawkins make longlist, Memoirs from Iran and Iraq

The judges for the 2007 BBC FOUR Samuel Johnson Prize announced the longlist today, 12 April. The prize is the world’s richest non-fiction prize and is worth £30,000 to the winner.

From 114 entries and 43 call-ins, the 20 titles on the longlist range widely in interest and continue the reputation of the prize for diverse and thought-provoking books.

The list includes the story of murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, an epic family story of life under Saddam’s dictatorship, the story of a woman living through turbulent times in Iran, an impassioned rebuttal of religion of all types, a secret history of mind control, a true story of love, war and madness in Seventeenth Century England, and the remarkable life of spy, archaeologist, linguist and mountaineer, Gertrude Bell.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Chair of the judges, comments:

"We've had an incredibly hard time choosing our longlist as the calibre of books was really astonishing. It is particularly interesting that current affairs and what is happening, in particular, in Iran and Iraq are at the fore-front of non-fiction. After gorging ourselves on a feast of reading, we settled finally on 20 books which we feel are truly outstanding." 

Helena Kennedy is joined by a dynamic and eclectic panel of judges who offer a wide range of literary, journalistic and academic experience. They are scientist and broadcaster, Jim Al-Khalili; writer and editor, Diana Athill; historian and journalist, Tristram Hunt; and broadcaster and journalist, Mark Lawson.

The shortlist of The BBC FOUR Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2007 will be announced on Thursday 3 May at Foyles Bookshop, London. The winner will be announced at an awards dinner at the Savoy Hotel, London on Monday 18 June and will be broadcast live on BBC FOUR.

THE LONGLIST:

Author	Title	Publisher
Ian Buruma	Murder in Amsterdam	Atlantic Books
Rajiv Chandrasekaran	Imperial Life in the Emerald City	Bloomsbury
William Dalrymple	The Last Mughal	Bloomsbury
Richard Dawkins	The God Delusion	Transworld
Shirin Ebadi	Iran Awakening	Rider
Richard English	Irish Freedom	Pan Macmillan
Vic Gatrell	City of Laughter	Atlantic Books
Peter Hennessy	Having it so Good: Britain in the Fifties	Allen Lane
Georgina Howell	Daughter of the Desert	Pan Macmillan
Hermione Lee	Edith Wharton and The Man Who Went into the West	Chatto and Windus
Byron Rogers	The Man Who Went into the West	Aurum Press
Martin Rowson	Stuff	Jonathan Cape
Ruth Scurr	Fatal Purity
Rory Stewart	Occupational Hazards	Picador
Dominic Streatfeild	Brainwash	Hodder and Stoughton
Jo Tatchell	Nabeel’s Song	Sceptre Books
Claire Tomalin	Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man	Penguin
Adrian Tinniswood	The Verneys	Jonathan Cape
Brian Thompson	Clever Girl, A Sentimental Education	Atlantic Books
Jenny Uglow	Nature’s Engraver	Faber & Faber