Political Book Awards

Margaret Thatcher: the Authorized Biography by Charles Moore has been named the Political Book of the Year at the Paddy Power Political Book Awards. Judge Mary Beard said of the winning book: ‘This is an elegant and sometimes witty book; it is the kind of authoritative study that people will be referring to for decades – or even longer.’

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s novel One Night in Winter - a mix of love story, thriller and historical fiction set in Stalin’s Russia won Political Fiction Book of the Year. The award for Political Biography of the Year was won by The Pike: Gabriele d'Annunzio: Poet, Seducer & Preacher of War by Lucy Hughes-Hallett which charts the controversial life of Italian poet and fascist D'Annunzio.

Damian Barr’s book Maggie & Me, a touching and darkly witty memoir about surviving Thatcher's Britain, won the Political Humour and Satire Book of the Year. The award for International Affairs Book of the Year was presented to Margaret MacMillan for her book The War That Ended Peace: How Europe abandoned Peace for the First World War. Iain Dale, founder of the awards, said, ‘These awards celebrate the fantastic breadth of political writing in the UK today, and I hope that they will encourage more people to both read and write political literature.’