The judges of the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing
The judging panel of the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing was chaired by Rohan Silva, the founder of Libreria bookshop in Spitalfields, and co-founder of Second Home. He was joined by Sam Bowman, founding editor of Works in Progress and head of publishing at Stripe, Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London, Hong Kong journalist Jessie Lau, and Katie Prescott, technology and business editor at the Times.
Interviews with The judges of the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing
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1
Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire
by Antonia Senior -
2
The Elements of Power
by Nicolas Niarchos -
3
Israel: What Went Wrong?
by Omer Bartov -
4
Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia
by sam dalrymple -
5
The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet
by Yi-Ling Liu -
6
The Escape from Kabul
by Karen Bartlett
The Best Politics Books of 2026: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by The judges of the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing
The Best Politics Books of 2026: The Orwell Prize for Political Writing, recommended by The judges of the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing
The books shortlisted for the 2026 Orwell Prizes, the UK’s most prestigious awards for writing about politics, have been announced. “As judges, we returned again and again to what George Orwell means to us: clarity of prose and unflinching intellectual bravery,” said Rohan Silva, chair of the judges for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, awarded annually for a nonfiction book. We’ve listed the brilliant books they chose below, from Cold War betrayals and the partition of India to the conflicts still going on in the world today.
