Edmund Richardson wins Baillie Gifford Prize for Alexander biography

Richardson, a professor of classics at Durham University, was announced as the winner at a London ceremony on 4 November, Books+Publishing reported. The Guardian reported that he beat five other finalists on a six-book shortlist that included former winner Patrick Radden Keefe's London Falling, and that he is the first writer to win the prize for an ancient history book. It is the first major prize for Richardson, whose previous books include Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City (2021) and Classical Victorians (2013).

The winning book

Books+Publishing reported that Bloomsbury published Alexander: God, King, Man. The Guardian reported that the book follows Alexander from 336BC, when at 20 he took charge of a near-bankrupt kingdom and a barely controllable army, through his conquest of the Persian empire, to his death in Babylon at 32. Richardson drew on more than a decade of research across four continents and translated sources from 12 ancient languages himself. The book also uses recent archaeological finds, including newly decoded records kept by Babylonian astronomers of Alexander's time.

Judges' citation

Kirsty Lang, the broadcaster who chaired the judging panel, called the book "blockbuster history with page-turning narrative pull" and "a cracking cinematic story about the ancient world". She said Richardson "combines the use of new technology and recent archaeological discoveries to tell the story of an extraordinary leader who conquered an empire stretching from ancient Greece to the Indian subcontinent". Lang also noted that modern readers can draw "leadership lessons" from Alexander's story, WTOP reported. The panel included novelist Elif Shafak, Waterstones head of books Bea Carvalho, cultural historian Tiffany Jenkins, Spectator literary editor Sam Leith and editor Ravi Mattu, the Guardian reported.

How the prize was decided

The winner was selected from more than 350 eligible titles published between 1 November 2025 and 31 October 2026, narrowed to a longlist of 13 in September, the Guardian reported. The shortlist also included Andrea Wulf's The Traveller, Matthew Sweet's The Great Dictator, Nicholas Boggs's Baldwin: A Love Story and Anand Gopal's Days of Love and Rage, Books+Publishing reported. The Guardian reported that the award was founded as the Samuel Johnson Prize in 1999 and has been sponsored by investment management firm Baillie Gifford since 2016. Last year it went to Helen Garner for How to End a Story. Past winners include Antony Beevor, Jonathan Coe, Serhii Plokhy, Hallie Rubenhold and Katherine Rundell. Books+Publishing reported that the prize recognises nonfiction writing across all subjects.

Why it matters

The Guardian reported that Richardson's win caps a bumper year for the classical world: Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of The Odyssey sent sales of Homer's epic soaring, and last month the Canadian poet and classicist Anne Carson was awarded the Nobel prize. WTOP reported that the result reflects booming public interest in Ancient Greece, a trend Lang attributes to epic narratives such as Nolan's film. That context helps explain why a field of more than 350 eligible titles produced a classics biography as the winner.