The Costa Book Award for Biography, formerly part of the Whitbread Book Awards (1971–2006), was an annual literary award for biographies, part of the Costa Book Awards. The award concluded in 2022.
Recipients
Costa Books of the Year are distinguished wit a blue ribbon (). YearAuthorTitleSubjectResultRef.1971Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906), Norwegian playwright and theatre director Winner1972Anthony Trollope (1815–1882), English novelist of the Victorian periodWinner1973CB: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman(1836–1908), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908Winner1974Poor, Dear Brendan: The Quest for Brendan Bracken (1901–1958), Irish-born businessman and British politician Winner1975In Our Infancy (1882–1978), English writer and schoolteacher Winner1976Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865), English writer Winner1977Mary Curzon(1870–1906), British noble, Vicereine of IndiaWinner1978Lloyd George: The People's Champion (1863–1945), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922Winner1979About Time (1918–1999), Welsh-born English writer Winner1980On the Edge of Paradise: A. C. Benson, Diarist (1862–1925), English essayist and poet Winner1981Monty: The Making of a General KG, GCB, DSO, PC, DL (1887–1976), the first Viscount Montgomery of AlameinWinner1982Bismarck (1871–1890), also known as the Iron Chancellor, the first Chancellor of Germany Winner1983VitaThe Honorable , Lady Nicolson, CH (1892–1962), English author and garden designer (1892–1962)WinnerKing George V(1865–1936), King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India 1910–1936Winner1984T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), US-born British poetWinner1985Hugh Dalton (1887–1962), British Labour politician Winner1986Gilbert White (1720–1793), English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist; author of Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne Winner1987Under the Eye of the Clock (1965–2009), Irish poet and author Winner1988Tolstoy (1828–1910), Russian writer, author of War and Peace and Anna KareninaWinner1989Coleridge: Early Visions (1772–1834), English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian Winner1990AA Milne–His Life (1882–1956), British author Winner1991A Life of Picasso (1881–1973), 20th-century Spanish painter and sculptorWinner1992Trollope (1815–1882), English novelist of the Victorian period Winner1993Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life (1922–1985), English writer, jazz critic and librarianWinner1994D H Lawrence: The Married Man (1885–1930), English writer and poetWinner1995Gladstone (1809–1898), British Liberal prime minister WinnerPaul Berry and Mark BostridgeVera Brittain–A Life (1893–1970), English nurse and writerAlbert Speer: His Battle with Truth (1905–1981), Architect and Minister of War Production in Nazi Germany Terence Rattigan (1911–1977), British playwright and screenwriter1996Thomas Cranmer: A Life (1489–1556), 16th-century English Archbishop of Canterbury and Protestant reformerWinnerRosemary AshtonGeorge Eliot: A Life (1819–1880), English novelist, essayist, poet, journalist, and translatorShortlistFlora FraserCaroline of Brunswick, (1768–1821), Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover as the wife of King George IVJames KnowlsonDamned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Nobel-winning modernist Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, translator and poet1997Victor Hugo (1802–1885), French novelist, poet, and dramatist WinnerViolet: The Life and Loves of Violet Gordon Woodhouse (1872–1948), British harpsichordist and clavichordistShortlistQueen of Whale Cay (1900–1993), Wealthy British power boat racer known for their speed, eccentric lifestyle, and gender nonconformityCitizen Lord (1763–1798), Irish revolutionaryHogarth, A Life and a World (1697–1764), English artist and social critic1998Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire(1757–1806), English socialite, political organiser, style icon, author, and activistWinnerIris, A memoir of Iris Murdoch (1919–1999), Irish-born British writer and philosopher ShortlistHitler, Volume One Hubris 1889–1936, Führer of Nazi Germany (1889–1945)1999Berlioz Volume Two: Servitude and Greatness (1803–1869), French music composer and conductorWinnerBruce Chatwin (1940–1989), English writer, novelist and journalistShortlistMatisse (1869–1954), 20th-century French artist 2000Bad Blood–A Memoir (1943–2001), English academic, literary critic and authorWinnerFanny Burney (1752–1840), English diarist, novelist and playwright; the first literary woman novelistShortlistJohn Ruskin: The Later Years (1819–1900), English writer and art criticHitler: 1936–45 Nemesis, Führer of Nazi Germany (1889–1945)2001Selkirk's Island (1676–1721), Scottish sailor and castawayWinnerVermeer: A View of Delft (1632–1675), Dutch painter ShortlistBoswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (1740–1795), author of The Life of Samuel Johnson, which is discussed in Sisman's biographyFlaubert: A Life 1821–1880), French novelist2002Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self (1633–1703), English diaristWinnerAnthony Blunt: His Lives (1907–1983), British art historian, Soviet spy ShortlistRosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA (1920–1958), British chemist, biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer (1901–1953), author of the book-turned-film Mrs. Miniver2003Orwell: The Life (1903–1950), English author and journalist WinnerMargaret Thatcher - Volume Two: The Iron Lady (1925–2013), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 ShortlistMartha Gellhorn (1908–1998), American journalistBeautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith(1921–1995), American novelist and short story writer2004My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of ScotsMary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), Queen of Scotland from 1542 to 1567WinnerJabez: The Rise and Fall of a Victorian Rogue (1843–1916), businessman, philanthropist, politician, temperance campaigner and charmerShortlistStephen Spender (1909–1995), English poet and man of lettersV.S. Pritchett: A Working Life (1900–1997), British writer and literary critic2005Matisse the Master (1869–1954), 20th-century French artist WinnerHaw-Haw: The Tragedy of William and Margaret Joyce (1900s), American-born fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster ShortlistNature Cure (born 1941), British writer and broadcasterStuart: A Life Backwards, prisoner and a career criminal2006Keeping MumWinnerGeorge Mackay Brown: The Life (1921–1996), Scottish poet 1921–1996ShortlistJohn Donne: The Reformed Soul (1572–1631), English poet and clericNabeel's Song: A Family Story of Survival in Iraq(born 1950), Iraqi poet, journalist and political activist2007Young Stalin (1878–1953), Leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953WinnerRudolf Nureyev (1938–1993), Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographerShortlistAgent Zigzag (1914–1997), Double agent for Britain during World War 2Fatty Batter2008Somewhere Towards the End (1917–2019), British literary editor, novelist and memoiristWinnerBloomsbury Ballerina (1892–1981), Russian ballet dancer ShortlistIf You Don't Know Me By Now: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton (born 1976), British journalist and authorChagall (1887–1985), Russian-French artist 2009 (1902–1984), English theoretical physicistWinner (born 1970), English authorShortlistCoda (1936–2008), English playwright and memoiristDancing to the Precipice (1770–1853), French aristocrat famous for her posthumously published memoirs, Journal d'une femme de 50 ans 2010Ephrussis family, 20th-century Ukrainian Jewish banking and oil dynastyWinnerHow to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (1533–1592), one of the most significant philosophers of the French RenaissanceShortlistMy Father's Fortune (born 1933), English playwright and novelist2011Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas (1878–1917), a seminal poet in the history of British literature known for his work exploring the notions of disconnection and unsettlednessWinnerThin Paths: Journeys In and Around an Italian Mountain Village (born 1948), British author of both fiction and non-fictionShortlist and Henry CockburnHenry’s Demons: Living with Schizophrenia, A Father and Son’s StoryCharles Dickens: A Life (1812–1870), English writer and social critic 2012 and Bryan TalbotDotter of Her Father's EyesWinnerPatrick Leigh-Fermor: An Adventure (1915–2011), British author and soldierServing Victoria: Life in the Royal Household2013 (1863–1938), Italian writerWinnerEmpire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins (born 1975) Scottish physician and a writer on travel and medical mattersShortlistHanns and Rudolf: The German Jew and the Hunt for the Kommandant of AuschwitzHanns Alexander (1917–2006), German Jewish refugee who tracked down and arrested the Kommandant of Auschwitz Rudolf Höss2014H is for Hawk WinnerRoy Jenkins: a Well-Rounded Life (1920–2003), British politician, historian and writerShortlist, the chief art critic for The Independent Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery2015 (1769–1859), Prussian geographer, naturalist and explorer Winner (1832–1898), British writer, Anglican deacon and photographer, author of Alice's Adventures in WonderlandShortlistJohn Aubrey: My Own Life (1626–1697), English writer and antiquarian2016Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted TerritoryWinnerElizabeth: The Forgotten YearsShortlistI’m Not With the Band2017In the Days of Rain (born 1964), British writer and broadcasterWinnerOnce Upon a Time in the East: A Story of Growing UpShortlistFragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table 2018 Winner2019 (1901–1948), Polish underground resistance soldier and World War II concentration camp resistance leaderWinnerOn Chapel Sands: My Mother and Other Missing Persons ShortlistSamuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, literary critic and philosopher (1772–1834), and William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet (1770–1850)In ExtremisMarie Colvin, American journalist who worked as a foreign affairs correspondent2020The Louder I Will SingWinner2021Fall: The Mystery of Robert MaxwellWinnerConsumed: A Sister’s StoryShortlistFree: Coming of Age at the End of History
References
External links
Official website