Following the announcement of this year’s exceptional shortlist, the £10,000 prize will be awarded to the overall winner of the 10th anniversary edition of the Prize at the London Library on 28 September 2022.
Past winner announcements have taken place over a candle-lit dinner at the historic 14th century Charterhouse building in Farringdon and Waterstones, among other venues. In 2021, the Prize was awarded at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in St. James’s. The event offers an opportunity for the general audience to experience the announcement of each year’s winner live in the presence of a distinguished jury. It includes brief conversations between the judges and shortlisted authors as well as presentations of each individual book which can be purchased on the day.
Book below to join us at the 10th anniversary Book Prize dinner, where this year’s prize will be awarded. The ticket price includes a full three course meal and drinks.
The tenth anniversary year of the Prize takes place at a time of seismic shifts that have changed attitudes in and towards Russia. To mark the decade of the Prize, and recognising the importance of the valuable insights that research and scholars offer into the Russian speaking world at this pivotal moment, the judges have exceptionally shortlisted ten books rather than the usual six. Four of the books offer direct context on the history and politics of the country in the years leading up to the invasion of Ukraine, helping to promote public understanding and informed debate about Russia’s past, present and future, in line with the Prize’s long-term mission.
The 2022 shortlisted titles are:
– On the Edge: Life along the Russia-China Border by Franck Billé & Caroline Humphrey
– Navalny: Putin’s Nemesis, Russia’s Future? by Jan Matti Dollbaum, Morvan Lallouet and Ben Noble.
– Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia by Timothy Frye
– Klimat: Russian in the Age of Climate Change by Thane Gustafson
– Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate by Mary Sarotte
– In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova
– Stalin’s Architect: Power and Survival in Moscow by Deyan Sudjic
– The Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great Defied a Deadly Virus by Lucy Ward
– Playing with Fire: The Story of Maria Yudina, Pianist in Stalin’s Russia by Elizabeth Wilson
– Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union by Vladislav Zubok
Find out more about this year’s shortlist
Read the summaries of the shortlisted books
Read author Q&As to find out more about each book