The 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction

The Shortlist

The judges for the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize announced the shortlist today, 22 May. Now in its eleventh year the prize is worth £20,000 to the winner.

BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON FICTION SHORTLIST 2009

• Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed (William Heinemann)
• Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (Fourth Estate)
• The Lost City of Z by David Grann(Simon and Schuster)
• Leviathan by Phillip Hoare (Fourth Estate)
• The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (HarperPress)
• Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality by Manjit Kumar (Icon Books)

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

"Only one of this year's judges is a scientist, but all of us were won over by books about scientific discovery and scientific malpractice - not to mention the brilliantly-written narratives about inter-war economic history, Amazonian exploration, and whales. All of the shortlisted titles are the kinds of books we ordinarily might not have picked up - and now feel lucky to have read."

The judges will announce the winner of the prize at an awards ceremony at King’s Place, London on 30 June. Formerly The BBC FOUR Samuel Johnson Prize, the change in name reflects the BBC’s commitment to broadcasting coverage of the prize on a special edition of The Culture Show which goes out on BBC TWO at 11.20pm on the night of the award.

See the books >