The Best Historical Biography: The 2025 Elizabeth Longford Prize, recommended by Roy Foster
A good historical biography should help us redefine and rethink what makes a person historically significant, says Roy Foster, chair of the judging panel of the Elizabeth Longford Prize. He talks us through the brilliant books that made the 2025 shortlist, including the lives of various monarchs who left their mark on European history, a portrait of an early modern spymaster, and a biography of Frantz Fanon, the anti-colonial writer.
HISTORICAL FICTION Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain
“The story may not be unusual in itself but in Rose Tremain’s hands it’s so ‘funny, piercing, singular’, as one critic described it, that it turns into a small masterpiece”—Katharine Grant, judge, Walter Scott Prize
THRILLERS Topkapi by Eric Ambler
“This really is the funniest, best-written book ever. It’s about a wee silly man called Arthur, a sneak thief, who gets caught up in a plan to rob the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul”—MC Beaton (1936-2019), mystery writer
HISTORY BOOKS Genghis Khan by Jack Weatherford
“There are many factual errors in this book, but he’s an incredible writer and, as an anthropologist, he brings a perspective that many books on Chinggis Khan don’t have”—Timothy May, historian, University of North Georgia
CLASSIC LITERATURE Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
“Although he set out to write a moralising novel showing the evils of Anna’s adultery, his human empathy pushed him in a very different direction”—Jonathan Glover, philosopher, KCL
NONFICTION BOOKS Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe
“It’s loosely structured around…the murder of a mother of ten children, after she was accused of informing on the IRA…The case was never solved… It’s very vivid, very gripping, and illuminates a familiar and very close part of history”—Samira Shackle, Journalist
HISTORICAL MYSTERIES The Marcus Didius Falco Series by Lindsey Davis
“The detective character is similar in some ways to a 20th-century century wise-cracking, streetwise noir-style private eye, but the setting is 1st century Rome”—Tuva Kahrs, contributing editor, Five Books
NONFICTION
🏆 Winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature In Light of India by Octavio Paz
“This is easily the most accessible and stimulating book or introduction to India that you can read”—Pankaj Mishra, writer
HISTORICAL FICTION In the Distance by Hernan Diaz
“The story follows the life of Hakan, a Swedish immigrant who moves to the United States with his brother in the 1800s…I think it might be one of my favourite books ever”—Paul Carlucci, Novelist
THE BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
“The Sisters Grimm is about, as is pretty obvious from the title, two sisters who are descended from the brothers Grimm….The series is addicting and you can’t help but love everything about it, be it the characters or the plot…”—Zoe, age 14
FICTION James: A Novel by Percival Everett
🏆 Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
“The magisterial craft of James by Percival Everett lies in its combination of biting humour and a page-turning plot, with ruminations on sovereignty and Voltaire along the way”—Lara Choksey, judge, Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
ECONOMICS BOOKS Thinking Strategically by Avinash Dixit & Barry Nalebuff
“This guide to game theory is the book that first made me fall in love with economics”—Tim Harford, economist & FT columnist
Best Beach Reads 2025
“Looking for the perfect books to escape with whilst you’re on holiday? From thrillers to romances and fantasy to cottage core, these are our top page-turners”—Francesca Martin, journalist
HISTORY BOOKS The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark
“…the difference between people who think that the First World War was caused by German aggression and those who think it was all a terrible accident and that the world slipped into war. That’s the view of Christopher Clarke’s book, The Sleepwalkers“—Jonathan Boff, historian
AI BOOKS ChatGPT-4 offers its own opinions on artificial intelligence “These books offer valuable insights into the development, challenges, and future prospects of AI”—ChatGPT-4, AI chatbot
SCIENCE FICTION The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin
“This is part of Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle…It follows a human logging company on a small planet that’s covered in ocean and a few islands covered in forest.”—Erika Nesvold, astrophysicist
FANTASY FICTION Uprooted: A Novel by Naomi Novik
“Much of the book is the heroine coming into her own power, learning that she has her own magical talents. As she becomes more powerful, she has to go and save her friend, who has been taken by the forest”—Ursula Vernon, Novelist
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