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SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2008
Click here for broadcast times
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: or The Murder at Road Hill House, a pacy analysis of a murder case in a Wiltshire country house in 1860, is the winner of the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for 2008. Its author, Kate Summerscale, receives a cheque for £30,000.
Further information about the winner is available on the official Samuel Johnson Prize website.
The shortlist for the 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize, chosen from the longlist of 20 books, was announced on 15 May 2008. The books and authors are profiled in a one-hour special programme.
Now in its tenth year, the prize is the world's richest non-fiction prize and is worth £30,000 to the winner. Each of the shortlisted authors receive £1,000.
The judges announced the winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize at an awards ceremony in the Ballroom at the South Bank Centre, London on 15 July 2008. Kirsty Wark will present coverage of the awards ceremony to be broadcast on BBC Four on Sunday 20 July. BBC Four has also broadcast The Contenders, a compilation of short films about each of the shortlisted books, including interviews with the authors.
THE SHORTLIST
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BLOOD RIVER: A JOURNEY TO AFRICA'S BROKEN HEART
By Tim Butcher (Vintage)
The author recreates HM Stanley's famous expedition through the Congo. Solo.
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CROW COUNTRY
By Mark Cocker (Jonathan Cape)
A prose poem in a long tradition of English pastoral writing, this book pieces together the complexities of the inner lives of rooks and jackdaws.
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THE WHISPERERS: PRIVATE LIFE IN STALIN'S RUSSIA
By Orlando Figes (Allen Lane)
The hidden histories of the ordinary people who lived under Stalin's tyranny.
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THE WORLD IS WHAT IT IS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF VS NAIPAUL
By Patrick French (Picador)
A luminous account of one of the most compelling literary figures of the last 50 years.
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THE REST IS NOISE: LISTENING TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
By Alex Ross (Fourth Estate)
A sweeping musical history, from the salons of pre-war Vienna to Velvet Underground shows in the 60s.
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THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER
By Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury)
Jack Whicher of Scotland Yard, the most celebrated detective of the 1860s, investigates a country house murder in which the grieving family are the suspects.
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The BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize is open to the authors of all non-fiction books published in the UK, regardless of nationality.
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 Samuel Johnson Prize Homepage
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