The Baillie Gifford prize is the UK’s most prestigious award for nonfiction writing.

The 2020 shortlisted titles have just been announced and include:

• One Two Three Four by Craig Brown
• The Idea of the Brain by Matthew Cobb
• Black Spartacus by Sudhir Hazareesingh
• Our Bodies, Their Battlefield by Christina Lamb
• Stranger in the Shogun’s City by Amy Stanley
• The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale

Chair of judges Martha Kearney comments: “In 2020 we certainly learned that truth is stranger than fiction and our shortlist shows the sheer power of real life stories. From brain science to Beatlemania, Shoguns to suburban poltergeists, sex slavery to slave rebellions, this is our eclectic lockdown library.”

The 2020 winner will be revealed on 24 November. Find out more about this year’s shortlist and the Prize itself on the Baillie Gifford Prize website.