Although I primarily read fiction I also like to explore quality non-fiction. I’ve followed The British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding for years and through it I’ve discovered many fascinating and enjoyable books about history, culture, science, language and technology. I appreciate how these knowledgable non-fiction authors are able to present their thorough research and knowledge in a way which builds an engaging story. The shortlist for this year’s prize was revealed a few weeks ago and the winner will be announced on October 22nd.
The first book I’ve read from this list is Amitav Ghosh’s “Smoke and Ashes” which gives an account of how the opium trade was closely connected to colonialism. Crucially he shows how the patterns of behaviour around this trade and the rhetoric which arrises from it repeat throughout history. This discourse surrounding it continues into the modern day opioid crisis and opportunistic pharmaceutical companies. By focusing on the plant itself as an agent which will inevitably lead to addiction and social disruption, Ghosh shows that regulation is crucial and an emphasis has to be placed on social welfare over profit. Ghosh also meaningfully shows his own familial connections to the history of this trade and discusses the issue in relation to novels he’s written which are set immediately before The First Opium War.
The rest of the diverse group of books on the shortlist encompass topics including racism in healthcare/medicine, an exploration of endangered languages through examples of the few remaining speakers of different languages, a new history of colonialism which focuses on humans relationships with animals in the Americas vs Europe, the story of six crucial substances and the increasing expense of mining them and a history of mathematics which focuses on innovators who have often been overlooked due to their race, gender or nationality. I’m looking forward to reading more of these books and the online shortlist event which will explore these books more in depth. This will take place on October 21st and it’s free to register to watch it here: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/we-are-the-british-academy/british-academy-book-prize-2024-shortlist-event/
