Edmund Richardson’s Alexander the Great history wins £50,000 Baillie Gifford prize
Edmund Richardson has won the 2026 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction, receiving £50,000 for Alexander: God, King, Man. The award makes him the first writer to win the prize, founded in 1999, with a book devoted to ancient history. He was chosen from a six-book shortlist at a ceremony in London, beating titles including Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling.
Richardson’s biography follows Alexander the Great from 336BC, when the 20-year-old inherited a nearly bankrupt kingdom and an unstable army, through his conquest of the Persian empire and across territory reaching from Greece to the Indian subcontinent. Alexander died in Babylon at the age of 32. Richardson spent more than a decade researching the book across four continents, translating evidence from 12 ancient languages and incorporating recent archaeological discoveries, including newly decoded records kept by Babylonian astronomers.
The judges praised the book as “blockbuster history”, highlighting its cinematic narrative, extensive research and literary ambition. Chair Kirsty Lang said Richardson combined new technology and archaeological evidence to create a compelling account of an extraordinary leader. A professor of classics at Durham University, Richardson previously wrote Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City and Classical Victorians.
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