‘Blockbuster’ history of Alexander the Great wins £50,000 Baillie Gifford prize

Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson becomes the first ancient history title to win the prestigious nonfiction award Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson review – a dazzling, dizzying adventure

Edmund Richardson has won the 2026 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction for Alexander: God, King, Man, his account of the life of Alexander the Great, becoming the first writer to win the prize for an ancient history book.

Richardson was awarded the £50,000 prize at a ceremony in London on Wednesday evening, beating a six-strong shortlist that included former winner Patrick Radden Keefe’s London Falling.

The chair of judges, broadcaster Kirsty Lang, described the book as “blockbuster history” with “page-turning narrative pull”, and a “cracking cinematic story about the ancient world involving a masterful assembly of research materials…