CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction
The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction is a British literary award established in 1978 by the Crime Writers' Association, who have awarded the Gold Dagger fiction award since 1955.
In 1978 and 1979 only there was also a silver award. From 1995 to 2002 it was sponsored by The Macallan (Scotch whisky brand) and known as The Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction. In 2008 the award was sponsored by Owatonna Media (a London-based literary brand investor and owner). Between 2006 and 2010 it was awarded every other year, in even-numbered years, but in 2011 it returned as an annual award. As of 2023 it is called the ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction.[1] The prize is now a cheque for £1,000 and a decorative dagger.
Winners and shortlists
2020s
2023
- Winner: Wendy Joseph, Unlawful Killings: Life, Love and Murder: Trials at the Old Bailey[2]
- Stephen Bates, The Poisonous Solicitor[3]
- Martin Edwards, The Life of Crime
- Amit Katwala, Tremors In The Blood
- Julie Mackay & Robert Murphy, To Hunt a Killer
- David Whitehouse, About A Son
2022
- Winner: Julia Laite, The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey: A True Story of Sex, Crime and the Meaning of Justice[4]
- Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne, The Devil You Know[5]
- Julie Kavanagh, The Irish Assassins
- Radden Keefe, Empire of Pain
- Ben Machell, The Unusual Suspect
- Thomas Morris, The Dublin Railway Murder
2021
- Winner: Sue Black, Written in Bone
- Becky Cooper, We Keep the Dead Close
- Andrew Harding, These Are Not Gentle People
- Debora Harding, Dancing with the Octopus
- Nick Hayes, The Book of Trespass
- Ben MacIntyre, Agent Sonya
2020
- Winner: Casey Cep, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud and the Last Trial of Harper Lee[6]
- Peter Everett, Corrupt Bodies[7]
- Caroline Goode, Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod
- Sean O'Connor, The Fatal Passion of Alma Rattenbury
- Adam Sisman, The Professor and the Parson
- Susannah Stapleton, The Adventures of Maud West, Lady Detective
2010s
Winners
2019 [8]
- Ben Macintyre, The Spy and the Traitor, Viking
2018 [9]
- Thomas Harding, Blood on the Page, William Heinemann
- 2017[10]
- Stephen Purvis, Close but no Cigar, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Close but no Cigar: a true story of prison life in Castro's Cuba).
2016 [11]
- Andrew Hankinson, You Could Do Something Amazing With Your Life [You Are Raoul Moat], Scribe
2015 [12]
- Dan Davies, In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile, Quercus
- 2014 [13]
- Adrian Levy & Cathy Scott-Clark, The Siege, Viking
- 2013[14]
- Paul French, Midnight in Peking, Penguin (The 1937 murder of Pamela Werner in Beijing)
2012 [15]
- Anthony Summers & Robbyn Swan, The Eleventh Day, Transworld
- 2011[16]
- Douglas Starr, The Killer of Little Shepherds (The crimes and conviction of the nineteenth-century French serial murderer Joseph Vacher)
- 2010[17]
- Ruth Dudley Edwards, Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing & the Families’ Pursuit of Justice (The successful civil case taken against the suspects for the Omagh bombing)
2000s
- Kester Aspden, Nationality: Wog - The Hounding of David Oluwale (Death of David Oluwale in Leeds in 1969)
- Francisco Goldman, The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi (Death of Juan José Gerardi Conedera in Guatemala in 1998)
- David Rose, Violation: Justice, Race and Serial Murder in the Deep South (The case of Carlton Gary, sentenced to death in 1986 in Georgia, USA)
- Duncan Staff, The Lost Boy (Keith Bennett, victim of the Moors Murders, England, 1964)
- Kate Summerscale, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House (Murder in 1860 in Somerset, England, to which Constance Kent confessed)
- Peter Zimonjic, Into the Darkness: 7/7 (First-hand account of the 7 July 2005 London bombings)
- 2006[20]
- Linda Rhodes, Lee Shelden, and Kathryn Abnett, The Dagenham Murder: The Brutal Killing of PC George Clark, 1846 (Murder of policeman George Clark in 1846 in Dagenham, London)
- Sebastian Junger, A Death in Belmont (Boston Strangler murders of 1962-64 in USA)
- Nuala O'Faolain, The Story of Chicago May (Irish-born international criminal Chicago May, born May Duignan)
- Sister Helen Prejean, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions (Executions of Dobie Gillis Williams (1999) and Joseph O'Dell in USA)
- William Queen, Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (First-hand account of infiltrating Mongols gang in USA)
- Sue Williams, And Then the Darkness: The Fascinating Story of the Disappearance of Peter Falconio and the Trials of Joanne Lees (Disappearance of Peter Falconio in Australia, 2001)
- 2005[21]
- Gregg and Gina Hill, On The Run: a Mafia childhood (By the children of Henry Hill, American mobster)
- Bella Bathurst, The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights, and Plundered Shipwrecks. (Wrecking off the UK coast)
- Eric Jager, The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France (Trial by combat of Jean de Carrouges, France, 1386)
- Sadakat Kadri, The Trial: a history from Socrates to O. J. Simpson (History of trials).
- James Owen, A Serpent in Eden: The Greatest Murder Mystery of All Time (Murder of Harry Oakes in Nassau, Bahamas, in 1943)
- 2004[22]
Joint winners
- John Dickie, Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia (History of the Sicilian mafia from its 1860s beginnings)
- Sarah Wise, The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave Robbery in 1830s London (The Italian Boy murder, London, 1831)
- Rebecca Gowers, The Swamp of Death: A True Tale of Victorian Lies and Murder (Reginald Birchall, a young Englishman who set off for Canada in 1890 and was found dead in a swamp shortly after arriving)
- Steve Holland, The Trials of Hank Janson (Censorship of crime writer Hank Janson in 1940s Britain)
- Mende Nazer and Damian Lewis, Slave: The True Story of a Girl's Lost Childhood and her Fight for Survival (Mende Nazer's own story)
- 2003[23]
- Samantha Weinberg, Pointing from the Grave: a True Story of Murder and DNA (Murder of Helena Greenwood in 1985 in California and early use of DNA profiling to identify her killer 15 years later)
- Michael Bilton, Wicked Beyond Belief: the Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (Peter Sutcliffe, serial killer convicted in 1981)
- Erik Larson, Devil In The White City:Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (Serial killer H. H. Holmes and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, USA)
- Chandak Sengoopta, Imprint of the Raj: the Colonial Origin of Fingerprinting and Its Voyage to Britain (The science of fingerprinting, developed in India and first used in court in England in 1902)
- Donald Thomas, An Underworld at War: Spivs, Deserters, Racketeers and Civilians in the Second World War (Events in Britain during World War II)
- Peter Walsh, Gang War: the Inside Story of the Manchester Gangs (Contemporary gangs in Manchester)
- 2002[24]
- Lillian Pizzichini, Dead Man's Wages: the secrets of a London conman and his family (Life of conman Charlie Taylor, the author's grandfather)
- Miranda Carter, Anthony Blunt, His Lives (Anthony Blunt (1907-1983), British spy and art historian)
- Don Hale (with Marika Huns & Hamish McGregor), Town Without Pity: the Fight to Clear Stephen Downing of the Bakewell Murder (Stephen Downing, jailed for murder in 1974, conviction overturned in 2002)
- Special mention: Julian Earwaker & Kathleen Becker, Scene of the Crime: a Guide to the Landscapes of British Detective FictionJudged to be outside the scope of the award but worthy of commendation
- 2001[25]
- Philip Etienne and Martin Maynard (with Tony Thompson), The Infiltrators: the First Inside Account of Life Deep Undercover with Scotland Yard's Most Secret Unit (Two members of SO10, the Metropolitan Police's undercover unit)
- Zacaria Erzinçlioglu, Maggots, Murder and Men: Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist (Forensic entomology)
- Adrian Weale, Patriot Traitors: Roger Casement, John Amery and the Real Meaning of Treason (Roger Casement and John Amery, the only Britons to be executed for high treason in the 20th century)
- 2000[26]
- Edward Bunker, Mr. Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade (The author's own story of a life of crime)
1990s
- 1999
- Brian Cathcart, The Case of Stephen Lawrence
- 1998
- Gitta Sereny, Cries Unheard: Why Children Kill - The Story of Mary Bell
- 1997
- Paul Britton, The Jigsaw Man (The Remarkable Career of Britain's Foremost Criminal Psychologist)
- 1996
- Antonia Fraser, The Gunpowder Plot
- 1995
- Martin Beales, Dead Not Buried
- 1994
- 1993
- Alexandra Artley, Murder in the Heart
- 1992
- Charles Nicholl, The Reckoning
- 1991
- John Bossy, Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair
- 1990
- Jonathan Goodman, The Passing of Starr Faithfull
1980s
- 1989
- Robert Lindsey, A Gathering of Saints: A True Story of Money, Murder and Deceit
- 1988
- Bernard Wasserstein, The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln
- 1987
- Bernard Taylor/Stephen Knight, Perfect Murder
- 1986
- John Bryson, Evil Angels
- 1985
- Brian Masters, Killing for Company
- 1984
- David Yallop, In God's Name
- 1983
- Peter Watson, Double Dealer: How Five Art Dealers, Four Policemen, Three Picture Restorers, Two Auction Houses and a Journalist Plotted to Recover Some of the World's Most Beautiful Stolen Paintings
- 1982
- John Cornwell, Earth to Earth
- 1981
- Jacobo Timerman, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number
- 1980
- Anthony Summers, Conspiracy
References
- "ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- "2023 Dagger Award Winners Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- Mitchell, Erin (2023-05-12). "2023 CWA Dagger Shortlists Revealed". Crimespree Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- "2022 CWA Dagger Awards Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- "CWA Dagger Shortlists Announced". The Crime Writers’ Association. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
- "Michael Robotham wins the 2020 Gold Dagger". The Booktopian. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
- "ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". The Crime Writers' Association. Archived from the original on 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
- "The Crime Writers' Association". thecwa.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- "The Crime Writers' Association". thecwa.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- "The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2017. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- "The Crime Writers' Association". thecwa.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- "The Crime Writers' Association". thecwa.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- "The Crime Writers' Association". thecwa.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- "The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2013. Archived from the original on 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- "The Crime Writers' Association". thecwa.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
- "The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- "The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
- "The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- "CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction shortlist". Crime Writers' Association. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- "The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- "CWA Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2005. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- "The CWA's 2004 Non-Fiction Gold Dagger Award". Crime Writers' Association. 2004. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
- "The 2003 Gold Dagger Award for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-01-24. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- "The CWA The Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2002. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
- "The 2001 CWA Non-Fiction Dagger: The Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction". Crime Writers' Association. 2001. Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
- "The CWA Dagger Awards 2000". Crime Writers' Association. 2000. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2009-02-21.