• The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction - Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction - Heart, Be at Peace by Donal Ryan
  • The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction - Parallel Lines by Edward St Aubyn
  • The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction - Precipice by Robert Harris
  • The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction - The Accidental Immigrants by Jo McMillan
  • The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction - The Harrow by Noah Eaton

The Best Political Novels of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Fiction

From a book based on the actual love letters a British prime minister sent to his mistress in the run-up to World War I, to a fantastical tale that takes its cue from the Epic of Gilgamesh, there’s a wide variety of novels to choose from on the shortlist of this year’s Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. The comments are from the judging panel, chaired this year by British novelist Jim Crace.

  • The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing - At the Edge of Empire: A Family's Reckoning with China by Edward Wong
  • The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum
  • The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence by Mishal Husain
  • The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary by Victoria Amelina
  • The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing - The Baton and the Cross: Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin by Lucy Ash
  • The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing - The Coming Storm: A Journey into the Heart of the Conspiracy Machine by Gabriel Gatehouse

The Best Politics Books of 2025: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing

From conspiracy theories wreaking havoc in US politics to poignant memoirs of painful events around the globe, the books shortlisted for the 2025 Orwell Prizes, the UK’s most prestigious awards for writing about politics, have been announced. These are the eight books shortlisted for the ‘Orwell Prize for Political Writing,’ awarded annually to a nonfiction book. The comments are from the judging panel, chaired by UK diplomat and former ambassador to the US Kim Darroch.

  • The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - The Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold War by Ian Williams
  • The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival by Luke Harding
  • The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Who Cares: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It by Emily Kenway
  • The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain’s Colonial Legacy by Philippe Sands
  • The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule by Angela Saini

The 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by Martha Lane Fox

The Orwell Prizes are the UK’s most prestigious prizes for writing about politics, awarded annually to books and articles that best meet George Orwell’s own ambition “to make political writing into an art.” Martha Lane Fox, chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the shortlist of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, awarded annually to a nonfiction book.

  • The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - My Fourth Time, We Drowned by Sally Hayden
  • The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad by Michela Wrong
  • The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy by Adam Tooze
  • The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit
  • The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - Things I Have Withheld by Kei Miller
  • The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing - The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow

The Best Politics Books: the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by David Edgerton

From the dawn of humanity to the Covid crisis, from a study in power to the plight of the powerless, the Orwell Prize for Political Writing looks for books that break through the mendacities of politics and rise to the challenge of our times, explains historian David Edgerton, chair of this year’s judging panel. He talks us through the ten fabulous books that made the 2022 shortlist.