Edmund Richardson Wins Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction With Book on Alexander

Edmund Richardson has won the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, and for the first time the award has gone to a book about ancient history. The winner was announced at a ceremony in London on 4 November, according to the prize's own announcement.

The winning book is Alexander: God, King, Man, published by Bloomsbury, one of the major publishing houses in London. Richardson is a Professor of Classics, the academic field that studies the languages, literature and history of ancient Greece and Rome. His book is about Alexander, the king of Macedon who built one of the largest empires of the ancient world.

The award was founded in 1999 as the Samuel Johnson Prize. Until now, none of its winners had covered ancient history. Kirsty Lang chaired the panel of judges who chose this year's winner.

The judges picked the book from more than 350 eligible titles. Eligible means the book was first published in the prize's qualifying window, which ran from November 2025 to October 2026. The prize is for nonfiction, meaning books that are factual rather than made up.

Richardson receives £50,000 as the winner. The sum was reported as the equivalent of US$67,000 by The Washington Post and Newsday. Exchange rates move, so the dollar figure will change with time.

For readers, a prize like this can change how a book reaches the public. Winners often see fresh copies move off shelves in the days after an announcement, and the award's name goes on the cover of later printings. Booksellers and libraries may also order more copies to meet interest. The prize money goes to the author, and the book's sales depend on the many readers who choose to buy or borrow it.

Richardson's win adds to a long list of nonfiction books that have been recognised by the prize since 1999. This year, that list has its first ancient-history name.