Alexander: God, King, Man by Edmund Richardson has won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. This is the first time the prize has been won by a book covering ancient history. Richardson receives £50,000 (about $66,785). The book was published in the U.K. by Bloomsbury and in the U.S. by St. Martin's Press.
Organizers said, "A cinematic, revelatory retelling of one of the most elusive stories in history, Alexander: God, King, Man is based on more than a decade of research across four continents and includes new translations of sources from twelve ancient languages. Richardson's research took him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of Afghanistan. The book follows Alexander the Great from his unlikely accession at 20 to a debt-ridden Macedonian throne and a restless army, to his transformation into a conqueror worshipped as a living god. Told with narrative flair, sharp insight and a real feel for the human drama behind the legend, this book reveals the young man behind history's biggest military campaign, a king, a hero and a god who died, broken-hearted, in Babylon at 32."
Chair of judges Kirsty Lang added: "Alexander: God, King, Man is non-fiction writing at its very best: a book that, like its subject, can't stop pressing onward. It's blockbuster history with page-turning narrative pull, a cracking cinematic story about the ancient world involving a masterful assembly of research materials alongside exceptional literary craft. 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."